Roasted Red Pepper and Pine Nut Rice Pasta

Rice pasta (I’m sure you can use semolina pasta, but rice pasta’s cooking liquid is really creamy and yummy to add to sauces.  Trader Joe’s rice pasta is my favorite)

1 12oz jar of roasted red peppers (about 2 peppers if you’re roasting yourself)
1/2 cup (or more) pinenuts
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 large shallot

1/3 cup of rice pasta cooking liquid

about a tbsp olive oil

sea salt
black pepper

Boil about 4 cups of salted water for pasta.

Sauté shallots and garlic in olive oil until shallots start to get a little translucent.  Add chunks of roasted red peppers, pine nuts, a few grinds of pepper and a liberal amount of salt (I added a few full pinches of a good course sea salt, but I like things salty). Let simmer while pasta cooks.

Drain pasta, reserving about a cup or so of the cooking liquid.  Set aside.

Transfer red pepper mixture into a blender and blend away, adding the cooking liquid as you go to achieve the right creamy consistency.   Pour liberally onto pasta and serve immediately.

I made this last night when I was after something healthy, but sort of creamy.  I thought about making a tomato cream sauce of sorts, but I just wasn’t feeling an acid-y tomato sauce and I’m not so good at digesting dairy.  Hence the red peppers and pine nuts.  Now, this is my new favorite pasta sauce.  I think it’s so good, I want to eat it like a soup…hmmm.

-Leah