Rotini with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Onion Roasted Potatoes

There has been a lull in posting--if you check this often, my apologies. I have still been cooking, but finding the time to put the recipe and pictures on here has been tricky. In addition, I have been pouring through culinary magazines like nobody's business. By doing that, sometimes if we just don't have time to cook, it makes me feel like I still made even a slight attempt to be "culinary" for the day.

Lucas and I are big pasta eaters. In fact, some weeks we probably have pasta with every meal. Recently we have tried to use whole wheat pasta when available to add a semblance of healthiness to our fast and carbohydrate loaded dishes. The latest issue of Food & Wine (February 2008) has an article dedicated to fast, hearty pastas. It was, of course, the first article I read when I opened the magazine. Thus far, we have tried 2 of the recipes with minor adaptations to both. I can't say I've been really pleased with either--although I can't say that isn't because I didn't stay true to the original recipe or I just didn't care for the dish. I am picking one of the two to share (in my opinion , the slightly better of the two). This dish involves a roasted red pepper sauce. I have made a roasted red pepper sauce in the past, and was looking forward to seeing how mine compared with the recipe in the magazine. In the end, I think both Lucas and I preferred my version because it is a bit more flavorful--I will post that here sometime and you can compare them yourselves. The main difference in the 2 is the source of fat--my version uses heavy cream and this one uses olive oil. Take your pick, I guess.

For this recipe you will need the following ingredients:
3/4 lb. rotini noodles (I used whole wheat)
6 oz. roasted red peppers (if you don't have access to fresh, you can find them in jars)
1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
3 T. tomato paste
1 large garlic clove
3 fresh basil leaves
1/2 lb. salted fresh mozzerella cheese cut into 1/2" cubes
salt and pepper

1. Boil the water and add the rotini noodles. Cook according to package directions.
2. In a blender, puree the red peppers, olive oil, tomato paste, garlic, and basil leaves until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Heat the sauce in a small sauce pan until simmering.

4. Drain the pasta place into a large serving bowl. Toss with the sauce, mozzarella cubes, and if desired, top with fresh basil.

Now, I'm not saying this recipe wasn't good at all--we definitely ate it all, and even had leftovers the next day--I'm just saying it could use some tweaking for my taste. You might try it and love it. If you do try it and make any changes, let me know so I can give them a try.

Our side dish was onion roasted potatoes, a staple since Lucas and I first got married. It is easy, quick, and always tasty. It is also readily adaptable to size of crowd you are feeding. I make it with new (red) potatoes and for that use one potato per person. If you are using russet or other large potato, you may just need 1 for every 2 people.


Ingredients:
1 packet dried onion soup (e.g., Liptons)
olive oil
potatoes, cut into cubes

1.. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Coat potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle on onion soup--stir until well coated. I usually use less than a whole packet--just sprinkle and stir until the potatoes are completely coated and save the rest for next time. Use enough olive oil to coast, but you don't want a pool at the bottom of the pan either.
3. Place potatoes on baking sheet and bake in oven for 30-40 minutes, or until tender. Stir halfway through to ensure even cooking.

Enjoy!