Penne with Peppers, Fresh Tomatoes and Basil

This pasta dish is full of deliciously fresh flavors and  so perfect for using your summer produce!! So seriously yummy you won't miss the meat!

I love going to the farmer’s market to buy fresh produce which I can immediately use for easy stir-fries or pasta dishes. Usually, I would buy some fresh ripe tomatoes, colorful peppers and fresh herbs which I love to use in making fresh pasta sauce. While browsing the internet, I chanced upon this recipe - Penne Pasta with Peppers, Tomatoes and Basil from Giuliano Hazan’s Thirty Minute Pasta. Since I had the ingredients needed for the dish, I began to work on it and simply adapted it to what has now become a favorite summer pasta dish.

According to Hazan, it makes a difference if you peel the peppers before you use it as it removes the bitterness coming from its skin and brings out its sweetness. I followed his advice and it was spot on. I also peeled the tomatoes as recommended by him and the result is a really juicy yummy tomato sauce.

This is such a simple dish but really big on flavor. Unbelievably delicious!

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Ingredients

  

1 Tablespoon Olive oil

3 Tablespoon  Butter

4-5 garlic cloves, minced

1 medium onion, chopped
2 bell peppers (red & yellow), peeled, seeded, cut lengthwise into thin strips, then diced

1 1/2 lbs ripe tomatoes (about 2 large beefsteak tomatoes or your fave one), peeled and diced

10 fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Penne or any pasta of your choice

Parmesan cheese to pass around

Procedure

Cook the pasta according to package directions while making the sauce.

Heat the oil in a skillet. Add the butter and let it melt, don’t let it burn. Once the butter has sizzled and melted, add the garlic and cook for about a minute. Add the onion and sauté until it’s soft about 4-5 mins. 
When the onion has softened, add the peppers and season with a little salt. Cook for about 8-10 mins or until fully tender. Stir in the tomatoes and continue to sauté for another 10 mins until the tomatoes have reduced and the liquid released has dried up a bit. Halfway through, stir in the chopped basil.

When almost done, season with salt and freshly ground pepper. Add the freshly cooked pasta of your choice to the sauce and mix until the pasta is fully coated. Serve immediately with parmesan cheese on top. Oh, yum!

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