This delicious pasta sauce uses sweet bell peppers, in a variety of colors, and pairs them with onion, picante sauce, balsamic vinegar and parmesan cheese to make a delicious topping for pasta. Four Pepper Pasta is a hearty vegetarian entrée that is bright with rich fall flavor.
An Abundance of Peppers
When October comes I often think of my garden in Dallas. Beside our house there, my husband built a well planned series of raised beds. There was an open area to the other side and the conditions were good for growing herbs and vegetables. I had another herb garden just outside the kitchen door, a peach tree in the back yard and grapes were planted along the fence.
God is good! Our garden flourished. Late summer brought fresh peaches and then grapes to our back yard. Basil and parsley grew profusely alongside chives, oregano, rosemary and thyme. Sweet cantaloupe and a variety of squash grew abundantly in the raised beds as did cucumbers and green beans.
But the peppers – they were the star of the garden. Started from tiny plants we bought at the nursery, they grew into great bushes in the raised beds by mid-October. I struggled to keep up with the quantity of peppers those bushes produced. I was always looking for new recipes that used a maximum number of peppers.
Putting the Garden to Good Use
One year, when the first frost threatened right before Halloween, I brought in at least two grocery sacks full of peppers that remained on the plants. The blessing of so many peppers produced by our small garden amazed me. I was determined to put all of that fresh produce to good use as autumn settled in around us.
Some of the pepper recipes I used back then have gotten away from me over the years. There is one, however, a favorite recipe that I found in the Dallas newspaper, that I still treasure. Four Pepper Pasta uses several sweet bell peppers, of different colors if you have them, and pairs them with onion, picante sauce, balsamic vinegar and parmesan cheese to make a delicious topping for pasta. Serve Four Pepper Pasta as a hearty vegetarian entrée that is bright with rich fall flavor.
Enjoy!
Four Pepper Pasta
Course: Main DishCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
servings10
minutes20
minutes30
minutesThis delicious pasta sauce uses sweet bell peppers to create a hearty vegetarian entrée that is bright with rich fall colors and flavor.
Ingredients
8 ounces bow tie or other pasta
1 or 2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, quartered lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1 large green pepper, cut into short, thin strips
1 large red pepper, cut into short, thin strips
1 large yellow pepper, cut into short, thin strips
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
2/3 cup picante sauce
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. (I use one tablespoon or less of oil in a non-stick skillet. Adjust according to the pan you use and your preference.)
- Add onion, peppers and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes.
- Sprinkle basil and oregano over the vegetables. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until vegetables are tender, about 6 to 7 minutes.
- Add picante sauce and vinegar. Stir in and continue cooking for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Spoon pepper mixture over the pasta. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.
Notes
- Recipe Source: An old newspaper clipping from The Dallas Morning News.
i’m having something similiar for dinner tonight. i wish i had all those peppers…
Lovely pepper picture! 🙂
That first photo really caught my eye, the colors are gorgeous!
pretty pepper pasta, pal. 🙂
really, peppers add so much to pasta, both color-wise and taste-wise. lovely. 🙂
What color in the photo, it sounds delicious as well!
I’d love to have an abundance of peppers like that! you’ll have to start roasting and canning them at that rate 🙂
Beautiful styling in the first shot and such vibrant colours.
This looks gorgeous–the colors are spectacular! And two sacks of peppers?? My own garden seems so pathetic in comparison!!