Penne Pasta in Red Pepper Pesto with Sweet Onions & Mushrooms
Its Saturday and we arranged a get together with our family living in the town. It is great to have family near by when we are sooo far away from home. However, even a small get together would need some food right? When it is a preplanned party I always arrange to cook before hand so I get some time with the guests. This time I had absolutley no time ! I mean they were an hour away… I need a quick fix.
I had the red pepper pesto ready in my refrigerator, so I decided on this pasta. It was really quick with the pesto ready at hand. Along with it, had some frozen garlic bread & a bean soup leftover for lunch. Perfect!! I had some fresh tomatoes, with which I made Brushetta on the garlic bread. Some drinks & Ice Cream and a perfect evening.
I am sending this to WYF- Party Food & to Presto Pasta Nights hosted at Cooking Diva this week
Ingredients:
-
1.5 Cup Uncooked Penne Pasta
-
1 cup chopped Sweet Vidalia Onions
- 1 cloves of Garlic mashed and chopped
- 1 cup of Chopped Roasted Bell Pepper
- 1/2 cup Chopped Olives
- 1 Cup Mushrooms ( I used Canned Sliced ones)
- 3 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Basil Fresh or Flakes
- Salt
- Black Pepper (To Taste)
For Pesto:
- 1.5 cups of Roasted Red Bell Peppers ( or bottled ones in Oil)
- 3 Tablespoons of Pureed Tomato
- 4 Cloves of Garlic
- 2 Tablespoons crushed Red pepper (Optional)
- 2 Tablespoons of chopped Fresh Basil
- Salt
- 4 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Preparation:
Preparing the Pesto:
Add Roasted Peppers, crushed Red Pepper, tomato puree, garlic, basil, salt to a food processor and process while adding the EVOO. Process it till smooth. Keep aside.
Boil water with salt and cook the pasta al dente. Drain & keep aside. Save some of the water.
Heat Oil. Add the Garlic, and stir for a few seconds till it is fragrant but not brown. Add the Onions and the Chopped Bell Peppers. Stir Fry till the Onions are glazed.
Add Olives, Mushrooms, Black Peppers and fry at high heat for about 5 minutes. Add the prepared pesto & salt. Stir in everything together and add the Boiled Pasta to it. Toss and Stir for another 5 minutes, till all the sauce coats the pasta.
Garnish with Basil.
Tags: Basil, EVOO, flavorful pasta sauce, Garlic, how to make red pepper pesto, italian, Italian recipe, main dish recipe, mushroom, olives, onion, Pasta & Pizza, pasta recipe, pasta with red sauce, penne pasta, pesto, pesto recipe, pesto sauce, red pepper pesto, roasted red pepper, Sauce, summer, summer sauce recipe, Vegetarian recipe
October 28th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Looks like a wholesome meal with all the veggies..
October 28th, 2008 at 11:38 am
HALOA !!! This looks so colorful…..
Well done.
October 28th, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Looks great Soma. I try to eat the whole wheat penne whenver I make it, but the regular ones are nice too.
October 28th, 2008 at 2:25 pm
Looks delicious Soma…will give a try soon..
October 28th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Hi,
You have a wonderful collection of recipes here. The pasta looks so delicious.
October 28th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Hi, thanks for stopping by my blog. This is a nice blog. Interesting recipies. Ami ei blogta ke aamar bloglist a add korechi.
Happy cooking!!
October 29th, 2008 at 11:07 am
What an absolutely delightful plate!Am looking forward to winter veggies for making such dishes.
October 29th, 2008 at 2:09 pm
What a lovely pasta serving. Nice pictures and explanations. I admire your blog always. Moreover I have a surprise for you. Just visit me.
October 29th, 2008 at 4:33 pm
Divya, Mohan, Priya, Gita, Sanhita, : Thank you so much!
Sharmila: Yes Veggies added to it would be lovely. Thats the charm of pasta. Add any veggie u appreciate.
Anu:
We also have Whole Wheat pasta at home & like the grainy taste better, but when I am cooking for guests I do the regular. i have realized that those who are not used to the taste, cannot relish it all of a sudded. & this was one of those times when I made this for others:-)
viki: Thanx i will visit u.
October 30th, 2008 at 2:12 am
big pack of wheat penne in my pantry will be used shortly. thanks soma
October 30th, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Great photos! Thank you for joining PPN this week!
Best regards,
Melissa
October 31st, 2008 at 8:34 am
looks so nice.. never tried red bell pepper pesto.
November 1st, 2008 at 8:41 am
That looks so delicious..thanks for the entry
November 1st, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Looks great, Soma. I don’t understand why some people pick out olives in food. I think it’s delicious.
November 2nd, 2008 at 7:29 pm
Sia, Mahimaa: Thanks. I love red pepper and anything to do with it.
Melissa: Thanks! for hosting and allowing me to participate.
Easycrafts: Thanks for hosting such a fun event.
Jude: neither do I, becoz I LOVE olives…
March 27th, 2009 at 10:11 pm
This was great! We tried it out tonight and were really glad that it was a fast recipe. I’ll add this to my quick meals.