Bowties with Sweet Pepper Sauce

Tonight I made this recipe for the first time. I found it in a set of books that my mother-in-law gave me when she moved, called Eat Up Slim Down Annual Recipes 2009. I hadn't looked through the books since she gave them to me three years ago, but I am so glad that she gave them to me. They are indexed nicely, and the recipes are pretty easy to follow.

The original recipe is called Rotelle with Sweet Pepper Sauce, and it's on p.214 of the book, but I didn't have the rotelle pasta, so I used bowtie pasta instead.

Ingredients

1 t. olive oil

1 c. chopped onions

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 c. reduced- sodium chicken broth

 (I used vegetable broth)

4 cups chopped red or yellow bell peppers 

 (I used 2 cups of each)

1 c. chopped tomatoes

1/2 t. dried basil

1/2 t. salt

8 ounces rotelle pasta

 (I used bowtie pasta)

1/4c. grated Parmesan cheese

1. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until the onions are golden brown.

3. Add the broth.

4. When the mixture comes to a boil, add the peppers. Cook for 5 minutes, or until the peppers begin to soften.

5. Add the tomoatoes, basil, and salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes, or until the peppers are very soft.

6. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain well and keep warm.

7. Pour 1 cup of the sauce into a blender or food processor and pulse until smooth. Return the puree to the skillet and mix well. Serve the sauce over the pasta and sprinkle with the cheese.

Makes 4 servings

Per serving: 314 calories, 12g protein, 58g carbohydrate, 4g fat, 1.5 saturated fat, 4mg cholesterol, 263 mg sodium, 6g fiber

I only made a few changes to the recipe. I used vegetable broth instead of the chicken broth. I liked the idea of having both yellow and red peppers, simply because I thought it would look nice on the plate. I used bowtie pasta because it's what I had on hand. I also had to add a bit more of the vegetable broth during cooking because it was getting too dry. The last and final change I made was that I didn't use the Parmesan cheese, at all. If you've read my previous posts, you know that dairy is not my friend, so I omitted it for obvious reasons.

Here's a picture of the dish. I got a little carried away with the serving, lol. I just thought it looked pretty on the plate, but I wasn't able to eat it all. 

If you are going to make this recipe, I'd like to offer a bit of advice. This recipe is a little bland. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't memorable. I was in a hurry to finish up with dinner because it was late, so I didn't take my time developing flavors. If I had to do it over again, I'd probably add a some rosemary. I think it would go well with the peppers. As I was cooking, I also thought about adding some jalapeno or hot sauce, but I was too chicken. Next time, I'll follow my instincts.