Penne Pasta in Red Pepper Pesto with Sweet Onions & Mushrooms


penne pasta with red pepper pesto3

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. 1.5 Cup Uncooked Penne Pasta
  2. 1 cup chopped Sweet Vidalia Onions
  3. 1 cloves of Garlic mashed and chopped
  4. 1 cup of Chopped Roasted Bell Pepper
  5. 1/2 cup Chopped Olives
  6. 1 Cup Mushrooms ( I used Canned Sliced ones)
  7. 3 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  8. Basil Fresh or Flakes
  9. Salt
  10. Black Pepper (To Taste)

For Pesto:

  1. 1.5 cups of Roasted Red Bell Peppers ( or bottled ones in Oil)
  2. 3 Tablespoons of Pureed Tomato
  3. 4 Cloves of Garlic
  4. 2 Tablespoons crushed Red pepper (Optional)
  5. 2 Tablespoons of chopped Fresh Basil
  6. Salt
  7. 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.

Penne Pasta in Red Pepper Pesto 1

Enjoy with a glass of wine!!

Penne pasta in Red pepper pesto2



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