penne with red pepper sauce & spinach

"tomatoes aren't the only sweet red fruit that make a great pasta sauce. red bell peppers are excellent too, especially paired with the faint licorice flavour of fennel seeds.

Ingredients:

• 4 red bell peppers, seeded and roughly chopped
• 2 large onions, roughly chopped
• 1 whole head of garlic, peeled
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp. fennel seeds
• sea salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 1lb (454g) penne
• a few handfuls of baby spinach

Preparation:

• preheat oven to 350f (180c)
• toss the peppers, onion, garlic, olive oil, fennel seed and salt & pepper together in a large bowl until throroughly coated.
• pour into a 9x13 inch (3.5l) baking pan
• roast until peppers are softened and caramelized, about 1 hour
• transfer the roasted vegetables into a medium saucepan and purée with an immersion blender, adding a splash of water to help it along.
• alternatively, put into a food processor or blender and purée until smooth.
• taste and add more slat & pepper to taste.
• just prior to serving, reheat the sauce in a large pot
• cook the pasta in tlots of boiling salted water
• toss the hot pasta with the reheated red pepper sauce and the baby spinach
• serve immediately

Note:

• The kids didn't like the recipe. (because of the fennel seeds)... I found it ok, but will not make it again.... although I will try other red pepper based sauces, just none that include fennel seed! ;)

Prepared: 2010-12-05

Categories: vegetarian

Makes: 4 servings

Recipe Source: "the best of
chef at home"
by michael smith