I love carbs. It's true. Particularly in the form of this Roasted Red Pepper Pasta with Mushrooms situation happening below!
As a child I literally only ate pasta and grilled cheese until I was seriously 15 years old. If I kept it going, I probably would have turned into a noodle. At least that's what everyone used to tell me. I was almost impossible to take to dinner unless there was a simple pasta on the menu or a grilled cheese. Considering what I've turned into 15+ years later, this is really weird to me. I mean I am an equal opportunity eater nowadays, but like I said, that wasn't always the case.
Back when I was a little munchkin I would only eat pasta with a little olive oil or butter, lots of sautéed garlic and salt. Oh and it had to be doused with a decent amount of Parmesan cheese too. It was glorious. I was a happy child. And these days I still love pasta just as much, but clearly I've branched out a bit and taken things up a few notches. If you love this recipe and want to branch out even more, try my delightful Creamy Butternut Squash Pasta. Delish!
This most recent pasta creation has been a staple in my house. It's some freshly made pasta coated with the most delicious and easy sauce ever. It's made up of roasted red peppers, garlic, a touch of olive oil and red wine vinegar and then salt and pepper. It doesn't get much easier than that. Especially because all you have to do it throw it all into your blender or food processor and call it a day. It's brilliant. Bright. Flavorful. And I'm seriously obsessed.
I threw it in with some caramelized mushrooms and basil. The result - so freaking good. I wanted to eat the entire thing in one sitting. But I refrained, and instead hid it from my husband in the back of the fridge and ate it for lunch for like 4 days in a row. If you wanted to get extra jazzy, you could stir in some cheese like my all time fav Burrata or the classic Parmesan - but it really doesn't need it. The sauce has enough flavor to work on just about anything and you've totally got to make this. It's simple enough for a quick weeknight meal but also fun and gorgeous enough for a weekend dinner party too.
Red Pepper Pasta with Mushroom
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 10 ounces mushrooms any variety will work, cut into thin slices
- 6 ounces spinach optional
- 3 roasted red bell peppers (jarred is fine)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 10 ounces spaghetti
- Basil leaves
- Parmesan cheese freshly shredded or grated
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to boil.
- Heat the 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a heavy bottom skillet over medium high heat.
- Add the mushrooms and saute for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms are golden brown and caramelized. If you're adding spinach, add the spinach and wilt it down. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.
- In a blender or food processor, combine the roasted red bell peppers, garlic, salt, pepper, remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and vinegar. Blend for 1-2 minutes until the ingredients become smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings as needed. Add the sauce to the pan with the mushrooms and stir to combine.
- Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to the package directions. Once the pasta is cooked, reserve ½ cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta. Add the cooked pasta to the mushroom mixture and toss to combine. Add the reserved water if you need to thin out the sauce. Adjust salt and pepper if needed and serve and serve with freshly shredded parmesan cheese and basil leaves.
Absolutely delicious! I was looking for a recipe that used mushrooms, spinach and red bell pepper to use what was in my fridge. Jack pot!! This was so delicious! Topped it with grated Romano. This will become part of our dinner rotation. Roasting the peppers yourself is highly recommended!
Made it today. Yummy!
Yum! This was such a simple, delicious meal. My husband and i like spice so we added crushed red pepper and we absolutely loved it! 4 stars
I made this for my mum and me for dinner this evening (I live in England) and it was absolutely delicious! I'll definitely be making it again. Thank you for the recipe, I will have to try some of your others too.
This looks absolutely amazing, definitely going to be trying it this week! I realise I'm a bit late to the party but does anyone know how many this recipe will serve by any chance?
4-6 people!
Just stumbled on this gorgeous recipe for a family dinner. Could you mix other coloured peppers into the sauce or stick to red?
any colored bell peppers would work!
Stumbled across this in a google search on what to make for dinner with pasta, spinach, and mushrooms. Love this idea and am trying it tonight! Thanks!!
Thanks Gina! Let me know what you think 🙂
Gaby it was delicious!!! My fiancé has been raving about it for a few hours. Super quick for a yummy weeknight meal. Keep these recipes comin'! Thanks!
Stumbled across this whilst looking for a spinach and mushroom pasta recipe. That red pepper sauce is an absolute genius idea,thanks a lot.
Made this tonight after finding it on Pinterest. What a great dish! I didn't need the 1/2 cup of water and was short one pepper. (The jar I bought only had two...skimpy!) This was so light and tasty, yet filling at the same time. Also, I might add that we are currently living in corporate housing with minimal kitchen supplies. My immersion/stick blender worked perfectly for the sauce, so don't be put off by the blender/food processor requirement. I'll be adding this to the regular rotation! Thanks!
so glad you loved it!! And yes - immersion blenders are basically the best invention ever huh? Especially when you have limited kitchen space!
Another home run! This was so simple, and absolutely deeeeee-LISH. I'm jealous that my husband gets to have it for lunch today!!
Just made this the other night (and noshing on it for lunch) and loved how easy it was! Love the blog and will definitely be cooking up some more of these recipes in the future!
Thanks Beth!!
So.. is the olive oil divided? One tb in the blender, one in the pan to sautee? I have no idea what to do when it comes to being in the kitchen....
yes!! it's divided so 2 tablespoons on the pan and 2 in the blender 🙂
Made this for tonight's dinner. I added crushed red pepper flakes and served Parmesan cheese on the side. It was very good and the most beautiful color!
yay!! so glad you hear you liked it 🙂
I made this on Tuesday because it looked delicious and simple. And it really was! I wasn't measuring so I think I put too much vinegar in the sauce but I put some sugar, more garlic and oil in and it still turned out. Thank you, I've been having the leftovers for lunch too!
Oh my gosh!! As a carba-holic, I need this in my life! Love roasted red peppers!