While I was away on a trip without the Gentleman, he attempted to follow my recipe for a banging Romanesco sauce that he regularly commandeers as his regular, favorite pasta sauce. I’m told that while my sauce delivers, my recipe did not. I remade it my memory, and include the proper measurements here for the ultimate red pepper pasta sauce for a bright and spicy dish!

Red Pepper Pasta Sauce

• 3 very large red bell peppers.
  • Note: each should have four lobes. Bonus points if they are from Spain.
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1/3 c. sliced almonds, toasted if you have time
• 1.5 lemons, juiced
• 3 tsp. chili pepper flakes
• 2 tsp. Kosher salt
• 1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 c. good olive oil
• Kosher salt & black pepper for seasoning

1. Roast your red peppers. Quarter your peppers and discard seeds, ribs, and stem. Coat in olive oil and sprinkle with Kosher salt. Place on a metal try and roast at 400F, skin side down for 20 minutes. Flip peppers over and roast ~15 minutes or until very soft.
2. Remove peppers immediately from tray (carefully, with tongs!) and place in a large bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and allow peppers to “sweat it out.”
3. Once cooled, 30-60 minutes, remove the skin of the peppers.
4. While peppers are cooling, lightly toast your almonds over medium heat.
5. Place skinned peppers directly into the bowl of a food processor bowl fitted with a steel blade.
6. In the food processor bowl, add the garlic, almonds, juice of 1.5 lemons, chili flakes, salt, and pepper.
7. Pulse until all ingredients are combined into a fragrant mash.
8. On medium speed, add the olive oil to the other ingredients.
9. Season to taste with additional salt, pepper, chili, and lemon as desired.

Note: Flavor intensifies in refrigerator, so store as desired. This sauce can be used immediately with hot pasta and also makes a tangy, chilled pasta salad.