Rich and creamy roasted red pepper alfredo. This is an indulgent dinner for two!
Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo
Alfredo is a fixture on most Italian restaurant menus, but it is so much better to make it at home. First, it’s a heck of lot cheaper – I checked out the price at a popular and, in my opinion, completely depressing and sad, Italian restaurant and they charge around $12.00! For one serving! That’s ridiculous! The scarier thing is that they boast that their alfredo sauce is made fresh each morning. Um, each morning? Most people order Alfredo for dinner… do you want to order a $12.00 pasta dinner dressed in a butter and cream sauce that’s been sitting around all day? I think I’ll pass on that.
So let’s make it at home, shall we?
Oh, and let’s not just make plain old alfredo sauce – let’s get creative and add in some roasted red peppers. So perfect for February, don’t you think?
A couple notes on this…
A chunky alfredo sauce does not compute with me – In order to preserve the creamy smoothness we all love about alfredo I recommend taking that extra step and strain the pureed roasted red peppers. You will be tempted to skip it and if you do you may be sad when you realize the final product is not as smooth and creamy as it could be. I don’t want you to be sad, so just take the extra couple of minutes to practice your straining skills. I know we all hate using extra dishes, but (trust me on this!) a smooth red pepper puree will not make your sauce all wonky. Nobody wants a wonky sauce. Or maybe some people do, but I don’t and I’m guessing you don’t either? Okay, moving on…
This is not a hard recipe to execute, but it does require some attention and you may need to make adjustments – this dish is more of an art than a science. Adding roasted red pepper puree to a traditional alfredo sort of changes things so be sure to taste, examine, and test as you go before you serve it up. Be patient and good things will happen.
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Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo
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Prep Time: 5 minutes - Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
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Yield: 2 -
Category: Main Course
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Pin RecipeDescription
Traditional Alfredo sauce gets dressed up with roasted red peppers. It’s rich, creamy, and so decadent!
Ingredients
- 5 ounces spaghetti or fettuccine
- 1 (12-ounce) jars of roasted red peppers, drained
- 4 tablespoons of butter
- 3/4 cup of heavy cream
- 2 cups finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped basil, plus extra for garnish
- Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. While you are waiting for the water to boil prepare the roasted red peppers by pureeing them in a blender or food processor. Strain the puree by pouring it through a fine-mesh sieve over a medium-sized bowl. Using a spatula or spoon press on the solids to extract all of the juice. Discard the solids and set the strained puree aside. You should have about 3/4 cup.
- Add the pasta to the pot and cook for about 1/2 the time recommended on the package. You will add the pasta to the sauce to let it finish cooking.
- While the pasta is boiling bring the cream to a simmer over medium-low heat in a large saucepan. Add the butter and whisk continuously until it’s melted and incorporated into the cream. Pour in the strained red pepper puree. Stir to combine, bring to a simmer and let it cook for a few minutes. Add the grated Parmesan cheese and stir until it’s melted into the sauce.
- Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat it in the sauce. The sauce will be loose at this point, so you want to simmer the pasta, stirring it constantly, in the sauce until it starts to thicken and adheres to the pasta – you don’t want a loose sauce dripping off of the noodles. Add a couple of tablespoons of the starchy pasta water, if needed, to help the sauce thicken. Don’t worry, the pasta will need the other half of it’s cooking time in the sauce so let it simmer and continuing tossing it around. if needed, grate another 1/4 cup of cheese into the sauce. Also, this would be the time to season with salt and pepper to taste. In the last couple of minutes stir in the chopped basil.
- Once the sauce has thickened and is coating the pasta, serve immediately with some extra chopped basil and a little parm grated over the top.
Nutrition
- Calories: 1047
- Fat: 71.4g
- Carbohydrates: 70g
- Fiber: 5.2g
- Protein: 34.5g
Photos and recipe updated 10/2015
What type of cream do you use?
Hi Juan, heavy cream is what I used 🙂
I found your recipe after searching for a good alfredo recipe on google. Since it was very simple, I gave it a shot. Yumm! Thank you! It’s very easy, took no time to make, looks ah-mazing, & very delicious! Adding this to my collection of favs. Thank you! Ps – I used dried basil & it turned out good too.
Thank you, Marianne! I’m so glad you enjoyed it – it’s one of my favorites, too 🙂
So wishing for a bowl right now! This looks like one hearty pasta dish.
It’s so, so, good! Thanks for stopping by, Thalia 🙂
Hey!
Just wondering, ehat can I do if I want to use freh red peppers?
http://www.packthefork.wordpress.com
Hi Lorena! You can roast your own red peppers in the oven – maybe for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. After they’re roasted stick them in a paper sack for a few minutes while hot to steam the skins, this will make it really easy to peel the peppers. Or, if you don’t want roasted peppers you could try blanching them for a few minutes in boiling water and then peel them – I haven’t tried that method before, but it may work if you don’t like roasted peppers. The recipe probably won’t work well if you just use raw peppers because it will be difficult to get a smooth consistency. Hope that helps!
This looks SO good April! Cannot wait to give it a whirl! I’m always a sucker for a big plate of pasta!
Aha, that’s one exotic recipe demystified. Nicely explained and illustrated. Thank you!
You crack me up…I definitely do not want alfredo sauce that was made while I was drinking my first cup of coffee of the day! I could dive into that plate of spaghetti right now! Beautiful recipe!
★★★★★
I love your photography and this is so creative! Pinning 🙂
Thanks so much!!