Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce is a smoky, creamy tomato and red pepper sauce, similar to marinara, that is easy to make from scratch and super versatile! Red pepper sauce can be swirled into pasta, used to make pink sauce lasagna or pink sauce pizza, used as a dip for bread and vegetables, as a sauce for fish, and so much more!
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Pink sauce pasta recipe
This beautiful pink sauce was inspired by both Italian Parma Rosa sauce, made from a mixture of tomatoes and cream, and Korean Rose sauce which is a spicy gochujang and tomato pasta sauce that uses cream to cut the spiciness.
My pink Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce adds just a pinch of red pepper flakes for a hint of heat in the creamy pepper and tomato sauce. The from scratch bell pepper sauce tastes smoky and sweet from the mixture of roasted tomatoes and peppers. It does not taste spicy. But you can add more, or less, red pepper flakes to taste.
Making roasted red pepper sauce from scratch using a mixture of fresh tomatoes and bell peppers tastes the most fresh and flavorful.
But you can make a super quick tomato and red pepper sauce in minutes using jarred roasted red peppers and canned tomatoes instead.
Even better if you can find fire roasted tomatoes.
Ingredients
- Red bell peppers – red bell peppers have a nice natural sweetness
- Tomatoes
- Onion
- Garlic cloves
- Pasta – fettuccine, spaghetti, rigatoni, angel hair, etc. You can serve red pepper cream sauce on any pasta you’d like.
- Red pepper flakes – red pepper flakes at a nice depth of flavor with a little heat
- Cream “half and half” – The high fat in cream prevents the dairy from curdling when combining with the acidic tomato mixture, especially since this sauce is not boiled and is only simmered. Milk may be substituted for the cream but a higher fat milk, like whole milk, is recommended.
- Salt and black pepper
- Granulated sugar
- Parmesan cheese
- Fresh basil
Vegan red pepper pasta
Make vegan red pepper pasta sauce simply by omitting the parmesan and subbing your favorite dairy alternative, like oat milk or almond milk, for the cream. The depth of flavor of the nutty alternative milks compliments the sweet roasted red peppers very well. You may need to add more salt to make up for the lack of parmesan in the vegan roasted red pepper pasta.
Step by step instructions
- Prepare roasted vegetables. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Add whole garlic, red peppers and tomatoes with a halved onion placed cut side down. Season with salt and red pepper flakes and roast in preheated oven until tomatoes are softened and peppers and onions are beginning to blacken and char, about 20-30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring a salted pot of water to a boil and cook pasta al dente according to package directions. Reserving 1 cup of pasta water, drain but do not rinse.
- Once vegetables are charred remove from oven and place peppers in a plastic wrap covered bowl. Allow peppers to steam until skin easily peels away, about 10 minutes. Then remove stems and seeds and discard along with the charred skin. For the best sweet roasted bell pepper flavor and most vibrant pink sauce remove all the black bits from the peppers, onions and garlic. Place roasted red peppers in a blender with the onions, garlic, and tomatoes. Blend smooth, adding reserved pasta water as needed to thin.
- Add pink sauce to the same stockpot that the pasta was cooked in and bring to a simmer over medium low heat. Season with salt and pepper and sweeten with sugar as needed, depending on how sweet the red bell peppers are you may not even need sugar.
- Reduce heat to low and stir in cream. Season to taste again, then add pasta to the pot. Stir to combine and keep warm over low heat for several minutes while the pasta soaks up all the luscious red pepper pasta sauce.
- Stir most of the parmesan into the sauce coated pasta then garnish with remaining parmesan and finely sliced fresh basil.
- Serve and enjoy!
How to serve
Use Roasted Red Pepper Pasta Sauce like you would traditional marina. Try pink sauce with lasagna, stuffed shells, pizza sauce, etc. Serve red pepper sauce with chicken, sauteed prawns, meatballs, or simply garnished with some more parmesan and basil.
You can also use this creamy roasted red pepper sauce as a dip for breadsticks or a baguette, as a sauce for fish, crab cakes, salmon cakes, steak, potatoes, tacos, sandwiches, etc.
However you serve this roasted red pepper pasta sauce recipe I know you’re going to love it!
Serving size
This red pepper pasta recipe yields enough pasta for about 4 servings as a meatless main dish. Or 6 people as a side with the addition of a protein like prawns, chicken or fish.
Stovetop red pepper sauce
Alternatively if you’d like to prevent turning the oven on to roast the peppers, you can make a quick red pepper pan sauce on the stovetop instead. Simply forego roasting and chop the onions, tomatoes and garlic instead. Saute in a pan over medium high until softened then blend with basil and red pepper flakes. Return to pan over medium low heat and bring to a simmer with cream before seasoning to taste with salt and sugar.
How to store
Roasted red peppers can be made up to two weeks in advance. To store roasted red peppers, peel, remove seeds and store covered in oil in a small jar.
Alternately roasted red pepper sauce can be made and refrigerated for up to three days before serving. Or freeze red pepper sauce for up to three months. Simply warm over low heat before using.
Store leftover red pepper pasta sauce tightly covered, refrigerated, for up to 3 days. Reheat on low to serve. Or to make ahead of time, simply roast vegetables and puree. Then cook pasta and simmer sauce with cream before serving.
📖 Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 medium red bell peppers whole or substitute 1 jar roasted red peppers, drained
- 3 large tomatoes
- 1 large white onion peeled and cut in half
- 3 cloves garlic with papery peel still attached
- 1 pound fettuccine
- ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¼ cup half and half
- salt and black pepper to taste
- granulated sugar to taste
- ½ cup parmesan cheese shaved
- ¼ cup fresh basil finely sliced
Instructions
- Prepare roasted vegetables. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Add whole garlic, red peppers and tomatoes with a halved onion placed cut side down. Season with salt and red pepper flakes and roast in preheated oven until tomatoes are softened and peppers and onions are beginning to blacken and char, about 20-30 minutes.3 medium red bell peppers, 3 large tomatoes, 1 large white onion, 3 cloves garlic
- Meanwhile, bring a salted pot of water to a boil and cook pasta al dente according to package directions. Reserving 1 cup of pasta water, drain but do not rinse.1 pound fettuccine
- Once vegetables are charred remove from oven and place peppers in a plastic wrap covered bowl. Allow peppers to steam until skin easily peels away, about 10 minutes. Then remove stems and seeds and discard along with the charred skin. For the best sweet roasted bell pepper flavor and most vibrant pink sauce remove all the black bits from the peppers, onions and garlic. Place roasted red peppers in a blender with the onions, garlic, tomatoes and red pepper flakes. Blend smooth, adding reserved pasta water as needed to thin.⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Add pink sauce to the same stockpot that the pasta was cooked in and bring to a simmer over medium low heat. Season with salt and pepper and sweeten with sugar as needed, depending on how sweet the red bell peppers are you may not even need sugar.salt and black pepper, granulated sugar
- Reduce heat to low and stir in cream. Season to taste again, then add pasta to the pot. Stir to combine and keep warm over low heat for several minutes while the pasta soaks up all the luscious red pepper pasta sauce.¼ cup half and half
- Stir most of the parmesan into the sauce coated pasta then serve topped with remaining parmesan and finely sliced fresh basil.½ cup parmesan cheese, ¼ cup fresh basil
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