Roasted red peppers are one of my favourite foods and since roasting your own red peppers is so easy I keep an eye out for red peppers when they’re in season! Lately grocery stores have had baskets of red shepherd peppers (which are very similar in flavour to red bell peppers) in stock at really low prices so I have been picking them up! There are so many ways to enjoy roasted red peppers and one of my staples is a roasted red pepper sauce which can be used in a lot of different ways including as a simple pasta sauce! This sauce is as easy to make as roasting the red peppers along with onion and garlic and once the veggies are roasted you puree them along with a can of tomatoes, oregano, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper! It’s that easy! Cook some, pasta, warm the sauce in a pan and you have roasted red pepper pasta dinner ready in no time!
Note: Feel free to use a jar of already roasted peppers instead of roasting your own!
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
A quick and easy homemade roasted red pepper sauce, perfect for a simple pasta dinner!
ingredients
- 3 red bell peppers (or shepherd peppers), cut in half and seeds/stems removed
- 1 small red onion, quarted
- 2-4 large cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 (14 ounce) can tomatoes (whole, diced, crushed or pureed)
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
directions
- Preheat the oven to 450F/230C.
- Place the peppers, onion wedges and whole cloves of garlic on a baking sheet with the cut side of the peppers facing down.
- Place the baking sheet on the top shelf in the oven and broil until the skin of the peppers has blackened, about 10 minutes. *
- Place the peppers in a zip-lock bag or other sealable container, seal and let them cool until you can handle them, about 20 minutes.
- Remove the skins from the peppers, by pinching them off.
- Place everything in a food processor and process until smooth.
Option: Roast other veggies, like zucchini, along with the red peppers to make for an even heartier sauce!
Option: Add a pinch of cayenne pepper for heat.
Option: Add a pinch of smoked paprika for smokiness.
Option: Add 1 tablespoon of grated parmesan cheese!
Option: Add 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast.
Option: Add 1 tablespoon fresh basil!
Note: Store in the fridge and use within 3-5 days, or use proper canning procedures to store for longer.
You have the best photographer! Makes dishes & prep so enticing & delivers the urge to make so many dishes!
You offer standards, exotic recipes from many ethnicities, much appreciated! Thank you!
I made this and it is delicious! Since it is only my husband and myself, is it OK to freeze this in small quantities?
Yes, you can freeze this sauce!
Just finished making this for the first time, but with regular red peppers (no bell or shepherd peppers on hand). It came out really good. Thank you very much for sharing; definitely planning on making this a regular in my kitchen.
Would a jar of roasted red peppers work?
Yes you can! I usually use a 12-16 ounce jar, which has about 2 full roasted red peppers in it. Enjoy!
This looks and sounds delicious! If you were to use jarred roasted peppers, how much would you need?
Thank you!
When using jarred, I use a 12-16 ounce jar which usually has 2 full roasted red peppers in it! Enjoy!
I’m so glad I found your site! I just made the sauce and its so good! I can’t wait to have it with pasta for lunch. Looking forward to trying your other recipes as well. Thank you for this great recipe. I will save it as my go to sauce!
I want to make this sauce. I already have a jar of red peppers. Do I treat them the same or skip to step 5, thoughts?
You will not need to roast the peppers then and you can optionally roast the onion and garlic before pureeing. Enjoy!