Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Cream Sauce

The days were dwindling. The plan of attack had been in place for a while.

Attack of the extra poundage, that is!

I knew that I had to make the most of my last week. Leave no stone unturned.

I did it. I think I successfully finished off every food I love...and maybe gained an extra ten pounds to lose in the process. I had a wonderful Moe's burrito, pizza, Mexican, my favorite brownies, a Caribou Mocha. Oh, and I can't forget the evil liquid calories in my beloved Coke!

(I ate it all...and here I am now, my only indulgence is sugar free jello. When I am feeling really wild I top it with a dollop of light Cool Whip. Wild, I tell you!)

One thing on my list of foods to indulge in last week was this Roasted Red Pepper Pasta. I had cream in the fridge, a jar of roasted red peppers, and the creative juices were flowing! I wanted to try it out before all cream and pasta would be banished. I am so glad I did.

I declared this my best pasta recipe, ever! The great things about it is that it meets all of my blog criteria with flying colors. It is delicious, quick and easy, and very "Cutting Back"!




Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, diced
1/2 cup onion, diced
1 jar roasted red peppers, drained
Crushed red pepper (amount depends on how spicy you like it, I used about 1/2 teaspoon)
1/4 chopped parsley (plus more for garnish)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1-1 1/4 cup heavy cream (depending on how saucy you like it)
Salt and Pepper
1 lb. pasta, cooked


Add olive oil to a large skillet. Heat and add onion and garlic. Saute until they are translucent. Add drained red peppers and parsley and continue cooking until heated through. Blend in the pan with an immersion blender (if you don't have on transfer mixture to a regular blender and puree and add back to pan). On med-low heat add in the heavy cream and Parmesan cheese. Continue cooking until thoroughly heated. Season with salt and pepper as needed. Add in cooked pasta. Garnish with additional parsley or Parmesan cheese if desired!


This post is linked to Ultimate Recipe Swap

16 comments:

Misty said...

You are so funny... I can picture you typing this post with your Sugar Free Jello by your computer.

Is it just me or do all ladies do the "eat all favorites" right before a diet?? I know I do... :)

So, I post my cooking resolution about being more "open minded" to new foods and ingredients and you post this recipe!?! Did you read my mind??? Guess I will be trying this. :)

Linda T said...

My FAVORITE sauce! There is a restaurant on Sanibel we always go to...just so I can get the angel hair pasta with the Roasted Red pepper sauce! I begged their recipe so I can make it ...just for me..Geo is allergic to peppers! Playing with their recipe, I substituted the hot pepper flakes for a sprinkling of white pepper for a little umph and I tried fat free half and half instead of cream with good results! It cuts the calories a lot but the flavor is still wonderful!
The chef suggested serving it as a soup.....he said to add a cup of chicken or vegetable broth to thin it a bit. Serve it with garlic toast floating on the top and a few curls of Parmesan.....Delish!

Tightwad Mom said...

Looks delicious! I had to laugh because I did the same thing last week! Definitely no carb or dessert left behind. I am on the lose weight and eat healthy bandwagon,too. Hang in there!

Misty said...

Update... I had to go to the store this morning any way, so I picked up the roasted red peppers (the only ingredient I needed to make this dish) :) I will be trying it out soon!

Katie said...

Misty, yes...I think all ladies do the eat all your favorites! Or at least all people who love food do.

You need to try new things. Whenever you do you surprise yourself and like it! Pepper Jelly, Earl Grey...to name a few ;)

Katie said...

Linda,

Well, you are my hero right now! I wouldn't have thought to turn it into a soup. With the right adjustments I can enjoy it right now on my diet! Thanks so much!!!

Katie said...

Tightwad Mom,

Yeah, I was going super crazy on the bad foods last week!! This diet stuff is hard, but I guess we are in it together!

Tiffanee said...

This looks devine!! I am trying to do the same thing, but still haven't made myself step up to the plate. Thanks for the motivation, but it may have to happen after I try out this pasta dish of yours.

Elise Gabrielle said...

This pasta looks amazing! I'm trying to convince my family to sit down for dinner tonight (I feel like nobody is ever home) so that I can make this for them! Thanks so much for the recipe!

I've also always wanted to ask, where do you store your recipes? Do you have a recipe box, binder, or do you just pull out the original book you found it in?

Katie said...

Elise,

If you get a chance to make it let me know how you all like it :)

Oh, what a good question!! I may turn this into a blog post one day! Since I collect cookbooks and have a million recipes I use a few different methods of organizations.

1. Online Recipe Box Spreadsheet
My husband created an Excel spreadsheet for me. I used to pirnt them all off and file in a 3 ring binder, but this is so much easier. I think I will post it on here for everyone, but when I read a great recipes on a blog I copy it to my spreadsheet and fill in different areas (like meat, crock pot, etc) so I can pull from it. It is awesome for online stuff!

2. I have a recipe box..or two or three. I put all of my tried and true recipes in. If I have a favorite recipe out of a cookbook I will often transfer it onto recipe card and file it in my box. I find it too hard to remember what book a recipe came out of when I want to make it. This works the best for me!

Elise Gabrielle said...

Hey there! Thanks for your feedback on how you keep your recipe's organized! I wanted to show you something cool that I found today!

http://learningtolivehumbly.blogspot.com/2011/01/yummysoup.html

I posted it on the latest post in my blog!

Elise

Katie said...

Elise, thanks for sharing...that is awesome!

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful recipe! I can totally relate to paying the price for over indulgence... and oh it's so painful! Love your blog and this looks like a great recipe to try... bookmarking now! Have a super weekend!!!

smilinggreenmom said...

This really does sound good! Nice work :) I love roasted red pepper and often roast it myself and then put it in a blender to make a sauce/puree! Yum! I would love to try this so much and use our fav whole grain pasta made from Kamut Wheat - I think my family is going to LOVE this one! Thanks for sharing it :)

April J Harris said...

This sounds so delicious! I usually roast my own red peppers but I have a jar of them I have been wanting to use up, and this is the perfect recipe for them. I love that it can be vegetarian too if you use vegetarian cheese :) Thanks for sharing it! And good luck with the cutting back / healthy eating - I'm trying to do that too at the moment!!

Katie said...

@ Kim: Thanks for reading the blog! I appreciate it!!

@smilinggreenmom: Hmmm...I have roasted my own peppers before but I haven't tried blending them up to make a sauce...thanks!

@21st Century Housewife: Yep, use up the jar on this...the jarred version makes this a super easy meal!

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