Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

There were a few beautiful red bell peppers in my refrigerator, and we were about to go away for the weekend.  I had already had them for several days, and the idea that they might be spoiled by the time we got back from our trip was just too depressing.  I had the genius idea of roasting them, figuring it would buy me a few more days.

Now that we're home, I decided to use the roasted red peppers to make a pasta sauce.  But you need not stop at pasta with this one, my friends.  This sauce is spicy and sassy.  Saucy, if you will.  It would do wonderful things on top of meat, chicken, fish, or yes, pasta.  It could jazz up a platter of grilled vegetables.  It could jazz up your life, in fact.

The diced fire roasted tomatoes I used already had spicy chilies in them, but if you have regular fire roasted tomatoes without chilies, you might want to add red pepper flakes or cayenne, or some other source of heat.  This sauce is velvety smooth, and the heat helps to give it an edge that it craves.  And you will crave it too, I promise.


Home made roasted red peppers are a beautiful thing, but of course you can use the jarred ones, too.  Just drain and rinse them first.

Spicy Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

makes about 4 cups

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

3 garlic cloves, chopped

3 roasted red bell peppers, chopped

one 14.5 ounce can of diced fire roasted tomatoes with chilies

a pinch of dried oregano

salt

2 teaspoons good quality balsamic vinegar

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Heat the oil in a large high-sided skillet over medium heat.  When it's hot, add the garlic and cook, stirring, for about one minute, until fragrant and starting to turn golden.  

2.  Add the bell peppers and the diced tomatoes with their juices.  Stir to combine, then season with oregano and salt.  Bring to a bubble, then stir in the balsamic.  Reduce to a bare simmer.  

3.  Let the sauce simmer for a few minutes so the flavors can marry and the sauce heats through, and thickens just slightly.  Turn off the heat and let sit for a minute.

4.  Transfer the sauce (carefully) to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.  Serve hot over pasta, meat, or veggies.

Enjoy!