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| Whole Grain Pasta with Roasted Red Pepper Carrot Pesto, Roasted Broccoli and Cherry Tomatoes |
A while back, I wrote a post called “Super Sauces” that included a recipe for Spinach Basil Pesto and Roasted Red Pepper Sauce. Since then, I’ve made a few other sauces that deserve to be included in this category of Super Sauces — Basil Garlic Scape Pesto, Swiss Chard Garlic Scape Pesto, and Warm Roasted Garlic and Artichoke Spread. Today, I have a new Super Sauce to add to this collection — Roasted Red Pepper Carrot Pesto.
The past two weeks, I have been getting tons of red “Carmen” sweet Italian peppers in my CSA Box. At first when I just got a few, I tossed these sweet crunchy red peppers in salads. But last week, I got at least 8 or 9 of these peppers. I’ve found the best way to use lots of produce quickly is to either puree them into soup or a sauce. Recently one of my favorite bloggers, Kalyn from Kalyn’s Kitchen, wrote a post about her Favorite Tips for Freezing Tomatoes, Fresh Herbs and Vegetables, and I thought about roasting all these peppers and freezing them.Â
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| Red Carmen Sweet Italian Peppers |
Then, I came across a recipe for Roasted Red Pepper Pesto in the CSA Newsletter that came in my CSA Box. The recipe sounded really interesting as it also included carrots, another vegetable that has been overflowing in my refrigerator bin — I have tons of carrots! I had an inkling that this pesto would be another Super Sauce that I would add to my repertoire, and I was right. Smokey roasted peppers, combined with sweet carrots and toasted garlic and walnuts, you can’t go wrong.
Although it was a lot of work peeling the skins off these sweet thin fleshed red “Carmen” peppers, it was well worth the effort (although next time, I might try using regular red bell peppers and roast them whole instead of cutting them up).
This Roasted Red Pepper Carrot Pesto is creamy and rich tasting, and makes a nice spread for sandwiches and quesadillas. You can also enjoy it as we did for dinner one night – tossed with whole grain pasta, Roasted Broccoli and Cherry Tomatoes. Just thin the pesto a little with some pasta cooking liquid.Â
Roasted Red Pepper Carrot Pesto Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 Carmen Peppers seeded and halved
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil divided
- 2 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 carrots sliced and cooked
- 1/4 cup toasted walnuts
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
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Toss the seeded and halved peppers with 2 tablespoons olive oil and a pinch of salt.
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Arrange peppers on a parchment paper lined baking sheet in a single layer.
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Roast peppers until tender and skin is blistered, about 20-25 minutes.
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Place peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap.
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Allow peppers to cool; peel skins off.
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Heat remaining 1/4 cup olive oil in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Add chopped garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
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Put all ingredients, except parsley, in a food processor bowl. Pulse until a smooth paste forms.
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Transfer to a bowl and stir in parsley.
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Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Salmon Roasted Beet Feta Salad with Dill Salad Dressing Recipe {Daniel Plan Recipe}
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This pesto is such a nice change from the usual basil pesto. I love that it is packed with so many veggies.
what a gorgeous and I'm sure delicious pesto! the carrots are a very nice addition, adding some sweetness to the pesto.
what a tasty pasta dish!
This dish sounds amazing – I was salivating at the first picture.
This pesto sounds amazing and looks so delicious. I love trying new variations on pesto and this is a flavor combination I have never heard of. I love meals and snacks that are packed with veggies. It's a great way to provide great nutrition for the family. Crave worthy dish.
I pinned this on Pinterest.
I've never seen a carrot and red pepper pesto, what a great combination! I'd love to try this on the Magnoodles.
It is an interesting combination – red peppers and carrots. I really was surprised by how tasty this pesto was. The carrots definitely add a sweet note to this pesto.
Thank you for sharing the good news about MagNoodles. We love MagNoodles and believe others will love them as well. My wife prepared MagNoodles, as directed. She sauteed sliced fresh mushrooms in
butter and cooked organic grass fed ground beef. She also browned in butter some organic "three grain" tempeh. She combined the cooked beef, tempeh and sliced mushrooms with a large jar of Bertolli Vineyard Portobello Sauce and let it simmer. With everything ready to go, I helped myself to a hearty portion of MagNoodles and covered it all with the delectable sauce. I also applied some grated Parmesan cheese, along with an ample portion of Sargento shredded "6
cheese Italian."
I boil pasta and then add tomato sauce ( raw tomato and basil+ garlic). after this I add raw veggies (Mushrooms, bro+ kale+ carrots…)
I am trying to add more raw stuff so having good quality pasta is important and I usually get form local farmer's market.
What a cool pesto idea–I cannot wait to try this!
looks so healthy and very creative!
Would love to try this pasta served in a cold pasta salad with a mixture of Greek yogurt cranberries & chopped apples on a bed of baby spring greens. 🙂
I follow you on twitter @serene_streams
I also retweeted your giveaway link 🙂
I just subscribed to your email newsletter too 🙂
Wowza…that sauce sounds awesome. And with all those vitamins and minerals in it, I'd pretty sure I'd be superwoman after eating it!
I love mixing butternut squash puree into "cream sauces" (I make them with almond milk)…so decadent but no guilt!
looks nice and healthy … prob try this soon ^_^
This looks amazing!!!
Wow, Jeanette!! This looks so beautiful, what a delicious sauce!! This is a must make.
love love the roasted red pepper pesto idea! bookmarked! you have such healthy and fabulous recipes all the time. i always think to myself, "wow i can eat this!" (since i have so many food sensitivies)!
This is a fabulous sauce – definitely a keeper. I also used it with some chicken quesadillas for my kids and they loved it.
I like the added carrot, it must add a certain sweetness to the pesto.
Carrot pesto? How wonderful and innovative. Your Carmen peppers look very similar to what we call Sheppard peppers. Beautiful recipe Jeanette.
Roasted pepper & carrot pesto? How wonderful and innovative. Your Carmen peppers look a lot like what we call Sheppard peppers. Delightful recipe Jeanette.
This looks delicious – a good use for all the carrots coming out of our garden right now!
This pesto looks great! I don’t know if I have seen Carmen Peppers at my local grocery store. That or I have never sought them out. But I think I may to try this. As always another wonderful post and recipe.
Thanks Destini – I’d never seen Carmen Peppers before either – they’re very mild and sweet. You can substitute regular red bell peppers, they’re bigger than the Carmen Peppers, but would work fine.
I made this with regular red peppers and I accidentally put in double the amount of carrots which I roasted. It came out really good. I just used up the last of it on a pizza, delicious! Thanks for the recipe.
Marry – so glad you tried this recipe – and I’m sure this was delicious with more roasted carrots – thanks for letting me know!