Rigatoni with Red Pepper Pesto

A fairly simple recipe with easy clean-up. It’s definitely quick and worth trying! Heads-up, you’ll need a food processor for this recipe.

Grocery List:

2-4 cups rigatoni

2 red bell peppers

1 cup basil leaves, packed lightly or 1 teaspoon dried basil leaves

2 sliced garlic cloves

2 tablespoons pine nuts

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

2 teaspoon virgin olive oil/extra virgin olive oil

*2-chicken boneless skinless chicken breasts, baked or broiled optional*

Instructions:

Turn oven on broil. Rinse bell peppers and cut into quarters. Place the peppers on a cooking tray inside up. (If you place the outside of the pepper up, you will burn the peppers…quickly.) Broil the pepper for 8-10 minutes (or until tender and not burned) about 5 inches from heat. I also like to flip the peppers over and BRIEFLY broil them on the other side for about 1 minute. They will begin to bubble and begin to char. This is intended…as long as the whole thing is not burned! Watch them carefully.

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil while the peppers are broiling. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until done; drain.

When the peppers are done, put them into the food processor along with the basil, garlic, pine nuts, salt and pepper. Turn the food process on. Let it blend until it looks fully blended. It should be a thick orange-red substance. It’s not going to be liquid like some pasta sauces. Add the 2 teaspoons of olive oil and stir with a spoon.

You can serve two ways. One, you put the pasta on a plate and put your pepper pesto on the pasta. Two, you can put the pasta back into the original pot, add some pesto and stir the pesto into the pasta. If you choose this way, make sure you

Notes:

*As an option, you can broil or bake two boneless and skinless chicken breasts, slicing them into edible chunks and tossing them in with the pesto. Adding the chicken is not necessary, however, it makes for a great addition.*

Source:

Take-out Tonight