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"A delicious combination of red pepper sauce, basil, almonds and fresh pasta." — jessica
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4 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 red bell peppers, chopped
1/4 cup almonds
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
4 cups broccoli florets
1 pound penne pasta
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips
I love this recipe. I am married to an Italian (green card Italian, not Mamma Leoni from Brooklyn Italian), and he is always impressed when I make this dish. The almonds are a special touch and it always helps to have fresh fresh fresh ingredients. My kids don't like peppers as a general rule so I never intended to make it for them. It looks like there's cream added to the sauce because of the creamy pink color. Great way to fool those die-hards who refuse to eat anything that is 100% vegetarian.
Really not great
71 Ratings
Very good! I couldn't follow this recipe exactly because my food processor was uncooperative. Unable to puree the vegetables, I just tossed them with the other ingredients with wonderful results. This is designed to be served hot, but cold leftovers the following day were delicious.
The sauce really is tasty, although I would be inclined to add more garlic, cayenne pepper and balsamic vinegar that it asks for because I found it a bit bland.
I read most of the reviews on this...it came up as recipe of the day...I saw some ..well most say 'bland' and had ideas to spice it up...adding more onion was one idea ...garlic powder...well I left all the ingredients alone for one...adding more garlic cloves...total of 4...and I did take the suggestion of one reviewer of the red peppers...so I roasted my two peppers and let them rest in a closed container so they could cool/ steam before I chopped them...Also ...as the recipe said to puree all...I only roughly chopped my veggies...why do the work of a machine...one big change too was I added my spices while cooking my onions...and I can tell you my sauce is anything but bland...it has a big kick at the end....I think this is a good veg head recipe and if you add sausage or chicken it can fit anyone...thanks!:-)
Totally LOVED this recipe, as with my husband and 8yr old son. Plates were polished cleaned with this recipe! All I added that was different was an extra tsp of vinegar instead of the suggested. I also didn't have fresh Parmesan so I used fresh Asiago instead. True, it wasn't very 'saucy' but I don't particularly like pasta that's dripping with sauce. This was just the right amount of sauce for my taste. This dish will remain in my kitchen!
Added half of a cup of almonds instead of 1/4 cup, used around 8 oz of pasta, added double the garlic, 6 ounces of olive oil, 1/2 cup of cheese, triple the pepper, and around 3 ounces of milk at the end. Was wonderful!
I agree with the other reviewers who thought the sauce needed more flavor. I used altogether 1 t. salt, and added 1 t. oregano, and it was very good. I also used half the amount of pasta, and added a can of white beans for more protein. It ended up being delicious!
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet.
Penne with Red Pepper Sauce and Broccoli
Serving Size: 1/5 of a recipe Servings Per Recipe: 5 Amount Per Serving Calories: 551 Calories from Fat: 168
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