Roast Pepper Sauce

Cavatelli | Roast Pepper Sauce

I love this incredibly humble pasta shape originating from the South of Italy. It is usually served with heavier, meatier sauces from Puglia to Calabria. It goes seriously well with this delicious rich red pepper sauce, and I love the crunch from the breadcrumbs. If you leave out the cheese, it's vegan!

Follow the sauce recipe below for a perfect mid-week dinner with friends and you can make your own pasta, or add your favourite shop brought!

Ingredients:

440g red peppers (I use a mix of bell and romano), halved + deseeded
4 tbsp olive oil, plus 70ml extra virgin olive oil
2 banana shallots, sliced
3 garlic cloves, sliced
1.5 tsp ground paprika
Few sprigs of thyme
100g cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 tsp chilli powder
Zest of 1 lemon + 3 tbsp lemon juice
Salt + pepper

For the sauce, preheat the oven to 190C degrees and line two baking trays with baking paper.

Add the sliced peppers to one, and season with 2 spoons of olive oil, salt and pepper. Then add the onions, thyme leaves, garlic and tomato halves to the other and season with another two spoons of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Place both trays into the oven. Take out the garlic and thyme at 12 minutes and the onion at 20 minutes.

Take out the tomatoes and peppers for 30 minutes. Scrape this into a blender with 30ml of olive oil, paprika and cayenne pepper. Blend to a smooth consistency, and scrape into a bowl. Add the remaining olive oil and check the seasoning, adding in the lemon juice.

Serve with the pasta of your choice using some of the starchy water to loosen the sauce. Top with pangrattato/breadcrumbs!