This is my favorite Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce because it's easy to make and high in protein compared to other roasted red pepper pasta sauces. We're blending roasted red peppers, parmesan, cottage cheese, paprika, fresh basil, a touch of balsamic vinegar, roasted garlic and olive oil to make this incredibly simple and delicious sauce. I really hope you enjoy it!
A lot of recipes use jarred roasted red peppers, and you can totally use them, but I've chosen to roast them from scratch for this recipe because I do feel like it adds a much fresher and tastier ingredient to the sauce. I love serving this delicious sauce with any kind of pasta.
If you love red peppers, check out my roasted red pepper hummus, roasted red pepper and gouda soup recipe or my roasted red pepper chicken, all great for midweek snacks or dinners!
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About Emily's Recipe
If you're new here, hi! I'm Emily - a recipe developer, food content creator, and cookbook author! Thanks for stopping by to check out my Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce recipe. I really hope you enjoy it and please do let me know in the comments if you give it a go!
If you'd like to join a community of food lovers, just subscribe to my newsletter for recipes, cooking tips, and foodie chats. Now, let me tell you a bit more about this recipe...
Texture: it's completely smooth.
Taste: sweet red bell pepper flavour with a creaminess from the cottage cheese, tanginess from the parmesan, and freshness from the basil.
Ease: this pasta sauce recipe requires two main steps. 1. time to roast the bell peppers, and 2. using a blender to blend the sauce. If you have the time and patience to do those two things, you're good to go!
Top Tips: 1. you want the slight charred black bits on the red pepper, they provide loads of flavour. 2. wrap your garlic bulb in foil to help it bake and go all soft.
Would I make this again? yes, it's a really good pasta sauce to keep in the fridge during the week and use it when in need of an easy midweek meal!
Ingredients and Substitutions
Red pepper: we're using fresh red bell peppers instead of other colours (green is too savoury), you could use yellow bell peppers if you'd like! Alternatively, you could use jarred roasted red peppers if you'd like to skip the roasting step.
Garlic: we're roasting a whole bulb of garlic, and it's delicious. It's definitely not too garlicky so don't worry about that. If you don't want to roast the garlic, then feel free to use ½ teaspoon garlic granules in the blended sauce.
Parmesan: this is optional but it gives the sauce a lovely cheesy flavour.
Cottage cheese: cottage cheese contains 11g protein per 100g which is a great boost in a simple pasta sauce. If you don't want to use cottage cheese, feel free to use the same amount of mascarpone, ricotta, or cream.
Paprika: this just adds a nice extra kick of flavour.
Basil: fresh basil is what we're using in this recipe. I wouldn't recommend using dried basil. If you don't have basil, use fresh parsley.
Balsamic vinegar: this balances out the acidity of the dish, giving the roasted red pepper pasta sauce a bit of a tang. Feel free to omit if you don't have it.
Olive oil: good quality olive oil gives you a lovely freshness. Feel free to omit or replace with water!
The full list of ingredients and quantities is at the bottom of this blog in the recipe card!
Step by step instructions with photos
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 200C/390F. Place your chopped red bell peppers in a tray. Wrap the bulb of garlic in foil with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, and place in the tray. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss and then roast for 25 minutes.
Step 2: Once your red peppers are cooked and slightly charred around the edges add to your blender and squeeze the garlic out of the bulb. Next, add the cottage cheese, paprika, basil, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, parmesan, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
Step 3: Once your roasted red pepper pasta sauce is smooth, taste and season according to your preference.
Step 4: Cook your pasta in salted boiling water according to packet instructions. Once al dente, drain and add back to the pan with your roasted red pepper sauce. Place on low heat and stir occasionally. Once everything has heated through, serve up and top with salt, pepper, grated parmesan, and basil!
What to do with leftovers
Storage: Place the roasted red pepper pasta sauce into an airtight container and into the fridge for up to 3 days.
Freezing: Once cooled, place in airtight container and label with the contents and the date. Store in the freezer for up to 3 months. Leave to thaw/defrost in the fridge overnight before reheating.
Reheating: You could either just reheat the container (lid ajar) in the microwave until bubbling and piping hot. Or you can transfer the pasta sauce to a pot and place it on low heat. Stir frequently until piping hot.
FAQs
For sure, sub out the cottage cheese for a vegan cream cheese and omit the parmesan.
Yes, it is, wahooo! Just make sure to pick out some gluten-free pasta to go with it!
This would go really well as a sauce for French fries, mashed potatoes, or rice, served with a fried protein like chicken or tofu!
More recipes you might enjoy!
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My Favorite Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce
Ingredients
- 3 red bell peppers roughly chopped
- 1 garlic bulb slice off the top to reveal the garlic cloves
- 300 g cottage cheese
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 30 g parmesan sliced or grated. Plus more for garnish.
- 10g basil plus extra for garnish
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar optional
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 350g pasta cooked to packet instructions
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/390F. Place your chopped red bell peppers in a tray. Wrap the bulb of garlic in foil with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, and place in the tray. Drizzle the peppers with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss and then roast for 25 minutes.
- Once your red peppers are cooked and slightly charred around the edges, add to your blender and squeeze the garlic out of the bulb. Next, add the cottage cheese, paprika, basil, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, parmesan, salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
- Once your roasted red pepper pasta sauce is smooth, taste and season according to your preference.
- Cook your pasta in salted boiling water according to packet instructions. Once al dente, drain and add back to the pan with your roasted red pepper sauce. Place on low heat and stir occasionally. Once everything has heated through, serve up and top with salt, pepper, and basil!
Caroline
Awesome!