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–+ servings

Creamy Red Pepper Pesto Pasta

Homemade roasted red pepper pesto is the star of the show in this creamy yet vibrant pasta dinner! It has a beautiful creamy texture and can be enjoyed plain or with added veggies or protein. This is the perfect thing to make with a surplus of sweet red peppers and will suit a variety of pasta shapes!
4 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes
5 from 2 ratings
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Ingredients

  • 14 oz (400 g) pasta
  • 0.25 cup (4 tbsp) Mascarpone cheese
  • 1 bunch kale or cavolo nero, optional

Red Pesto

  • 0.5 cups (65 g) cashew nuts
  • 3 sweet Romano peppers, you can use bell peppers
  • 2 large garlic cloves
  • 1 bunch basil
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 0.5 cup (50 g) parmesan*, pecorino or Italian hard cheese, grated
  • 0.25 cup (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt, to taste

Instructions 

  • Preheat the oven to 200C / 400F.
  • First things first, we need to roast the peppers. Slice them in half, take out the seeds, and lay them across a baking tray. Drizzle with oil, sprinkle with salt and place in the oven for 20 minutes.
    3 sweet Romano peppers
  • While the peppers are roasting, you can make a head start on the pesto by pulsing the cashews, cheese, basil, lemon juice, garlic and salt in a small food processor, or a mini chopper. By pulsing these ingredients down first, we create some space to add the peppers later on.
    0.5 cups cashew nuts, 2 large garlic cloves, 1 bunch basil, 1 lemon, 0.5 cup parmesan*, pecorino or Italian hard cheese, Salt
  • The peppers will be starting to blister. Remove and allow to cool down for a few minutes until they aren't too hot to touch.
  • While the peppers are cooling down, start boiling your pasta according to package instructions.
    14 oz pasta
  • If you're making the kale, now is the time to prepare it. Chop it up and saute it in a frying pan with a little olive oil, until it's bright green and softened. Set aside.
    1 bunch kale or cavolo nero
  • Once cooled, add the roasted peppers and olive oil to the food processor and blend until the pesto is your desired texture. I like to leave mine a little chunky, but you can get it pretty smooth if that's what you prefer.
    0.25 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • When the pasta is ready, drain and return to the pan but remove from the heat. Add the mascarpone and most of the pesto (reserve a few tablespoon's worth).
  • Stir through until the mascarpone has melted and a creamy sauce has formed around the pasta. Assess the texture and add the remaining pesto if you feel it needs it, otherwise this can be saved for another day.
    0.25 cup Mascarpone cheese
  • Mix in the kale and serve.

Notes

Parmesan cheese is made with animal rennet so to keep this meal vegetarian friendly, look for another Italian hard cheese that is made with vegetarian rennet. Some pecorinos are OK, and many supermarkets sell generic "Italian hard cheese" which mimics parmesan without the animal rennet.
Cuisine: Italian
Course: Dinner
Calories: 736kcal, Carbohydrates: 90g, Protein: 23g, Fat: 33g, Saturated Fat: 10g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 15g, Cholesterol: 27mg, Sodium: 188mg, Potassium: 691mg, Fiber: 8g, Sugar: 8g, Vitamin A: 6401IU, Vitamin C: 160mg, Calcium: 282mg, Iron: 4mg