Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Pasta

I found this recipe online and have been waiting to try it out because it sounded so delicious.  Mostly because I love peppers, goat cheese, and pasta.  Not only that but it was really easy to make.

Some tips before you get started though (I'll definitely be keeping these in mind next time I make it though... lessons learned haha):  don't start the cream sauce until after the red peppers are roasted and cooling down- maybe even wait until you have them peeled and cleaned.  Make sure you get FAT FREE half and half (I couldn't find a small container of it in the supermarket so I just got regular.  But it will definitely be easier on your waistline).  Time the cooking of the pasta right when you're done blending the sauce so you can pour it in without the pasta sticking together (I used linguine fine and it was done in 6 minutes).

Ingredients

2 whole red bell peppers
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup fat free half & half
about 4 oz. herb goat cheese (if you can't find the small package)
2/3 cup grated parigiano reggiano cheese
1 lb linguine, cooked to al dente
salt & pepper, to taste
handful of parsley (optional)

Here's what you do:

Preheat the oven to 500 degree F, put foil on a baking sheet, place peppers on sheet, and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove and let cool for about 10 or until you can handle peeling the skin off without burning your fingers off.

 

Then start the sauce by chopping the onions and garlic and saute in olive oil until tender.

 Add the half and half, goat cheese, salt, pepper, and parm, stir until cheese is melted over low heat.

 Pepper should be peeled and seedless and cut into strips.  Add them to the sauce as well. 

 Remove from heat and blend together.  I don't have a food processor so I just used a regular ol'blender.  Put back into the pan to keep warm until pasta is done.

 Add pasta to the sauce and coat thoroughly.  Add some more parm cheese and parsley if you desire, like me! 

 Enjoy!!

Original Recipe