Spaghetti With A Sweet Pepper Cream, Arugula, And Speck
I’m usually a bit suspicious of sauces made with bell peppers, because they tend to have a rather bitter and unpleasant taste. Roasting the peppers is a good way to avoid this problem and add a layer of smokiness, but I have to admit I avoid the process of roasting peppers myself like the plague. For some reason, it always ends up such a mess – the peppers first come out of the oven in all their roasted glory, but when I set out to peel them, it goes downhill from there. What I am left with is a battlefield of shriveled up peel that sticks to my fingers like glue, and pieces of bell pepper that are smashed beyond recognition. Not a good idea. I don’t like store bought roasted peppers either though, because they just don’t taste that good and have a strange “preserved” texture to them.
Enter this wonderful sweet bell pepper cream. No roasting or peeling required at all, and the best part? The sauce is incredibly creamy, yet there’s not a lick of cream in it! And making it couldn’t be any simpler. Just simmer onions, tomatoes, and bell peppers in extra virgin olive oil and water until they are tender and the water has evaporated, give it a few spins in a blender, and voila, you have an exquisite sauce for spaghetti!
The subtle sweetness of the bell pepper sauce forms a lovely background for the sharp arugula and the salty Speck in this dish. It’s great with some crusty Italian bread, and a nice glass of red wine. If you need inspiration for picking a good bottle of red, head on over to Stevie and Heguiberto’s great blog, Weird Combinations where you’ll find lots of fun reviews of (Californian) vineries and their liquid products!
Spaghetti With A Sweet Pepper Cream, Arugula, And Speck (serves 4)
400g spaghetti
200g red bell pepper, cut into small cubes
100g red onion, thinly sliced
100g cherry tomatoes, cut in half
4 slices Tyrolean Speck
arugula
extra virgin olive oil
salt
1. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a casserole pan and add onions and peppers.
2. Sautee over high heat for about 2 minutes, stirring.
3. Add tomatoes and 500ml water.
4. Salt to taste and let simmer uncovered until peppers are tender and the water has evaporated.
5. Blend in a blender until creamy.
6. Cook spaghetti al dente in plenty of boiling and salted water.
7. Drain spaghetti. Do not rinse.
8. Mix sauce and pasta in the same pot you cooked the spaghetti in.
9. Divide spaghetti among plates, and top each plate with a slice of Speck and a few stems of arugula.
Enjoy!
20 Comments
I love it when a sauce has body and richness with no cream, and the vegetables sound delicious. Gorgeous arugula with the pasta too!
Wow.. Don’t this look beautiful. I love how you’ve docrorated this dish. It looks heanvely. great job.
Have a great weekend.
Oh I’m glad to see this recipe, Karen.
I love good sauces and have had the same frustrating experience with doing my own roasted peppers. Hooray for a delicious solution! 
Karen, if I tried to take a photo of a pasta dish, there would be sauce everywhere and strands of pasta sticking every which way! Great photo
And the sauce sounds great, I’ll have to give it a try especially since the kids do like bell peppers. Do you put your roasted peppers in a plastic bag to steam after you roast them? I find that the skins peel off quite easily if I do it that way.
Karen, thanks so much for stopping by my blog…and leading me to your fabulous site. Your photos are stunning! And this pasta looks amazing…I love red bell peppers, and agree about the messy roasting process.
I don’t mind roasting peppers, but you’re right it is messy. You’re also right that the store bought are subpar. I love this recipe. It’s fresh and light and I’m sure super tasty.
When I roast peppers, I place them on a piece of foil and then in a plastic bag with a couple tablespoons of water and seal the bag. A few minutes later, they are ready to be peeled and seeded; in any case, this sauce sounds wonderful and I love the photo and the speck on top~
This bell pepper sauce sounds fantastic! I really could identify to what you wrote about peeling these veggies…So the idea of a no-peel pepper salsa sounds very tempting.
You should have my sister in the kitchen; she loves the messy peeling of roasted peppers! I don’t mind peeling either but I had a reader suggest using a food mill–which purees the roasted peppers while extracting the peel and seeds. I’ve tried it and it works well.
Meanwhile–this is a lovely recipe–terrific flavor combination, and your tangle of pasta looks so pretty in the bowl.
I just love this! Such a fresh flavor combo and love the short ingredient list
This recipe looks so magnificent, and is precisely the kind of dish I could never eat when I still lived at home (out of the ingredients, my mum could have eaten the oil, arugula, salt, and onion.
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what an elegant and simple dish, karen!! your plating up is *always* impeccable! i dont normally roast my peppers too..its too much hard work for me
i love this blending together of 3 of my fav veges into a sauce…reminds me why i love reading ppl’s blogs coz i always get all these new ideas 
That sauce sounds fantastic! Brilliant idea on combating the roasted bell pepper issue- I have the very same problems you described. And I, too, love Heguiberto and Stevie’s wine recomendations.
What a beautiful color of the spagetti- I love sweet pepper flavors!
This is a really lovely recipes. The finished dish looks wonderful and I’m sure it is delicious. I hope you have a great day. Blessings…Mary
Store bought peppers left a terrible aftertaste in my mouth…hence, I caved to roasting peppers in order to appreciate them for their gloriously sweet smoky taste. As you hate dealing with the clean up so did I…until I learnt to place a piece of paper towel within the palm of my hand and easily peeled off the skin by pressing and pulling off…the remainders, I rinse off. ;o)
Karen…love the presentation of this dish as well as finding this sauce very encouraging to put on one of my next pasta meals.
Ciao for now,
Claudia
so beautifully plated. I love red pepper in pasta sauce as well.
What an impressive pasta dish, and you’ve presented it so beautifully. I can never make spaghetti look elegant like you’ve done here.
*kisses* HH
What a gorgeous dish…it looks so rich and creamy, how impressive that there isn’t any cream. It sounds very flavorful and absolutely delectable.
Wow! Thanks for the link and the favorable shout out about California wines and our blog. Can’t believe I’m just reading it now. I’m so behind.
This dish looks stunning. I was completely cracking up when I heard your description of roasting your own peppers. I’m totally with you there. It is a horror show every time and I too try to avoid it like the plague.
I’de never considered making a pasta sauce like this: sort of braising the veggies it sounds like. Very creative. The arugula would add a great spicy hint and for pescatarians, maybe some anchovies instead of speck?