Pasta with Red Pepper & Tomato Sauce with a Guanciale Twist


It’s been too long since I published a new pasta dish (my one and only pasta all’amatriciana), which feels a bit like I’ve betrayed my own country. To make up for lost time, I thought I’d showcase a favourite, something I’ve spent a lot of time perfecting.

I call it pasta al sugo di peperoni (con sorpresa).

We’ve cooked it before with guanciale, and while it’s great, the tomato sauce might feel slightly similar to our amatriciana, though the sweet taste of the red pepper does change the overall palate. But to really distinguish it, we’ve added crushed almonds (the twist).

I’m not gonna lie, I did enjoy the testing process quite a lot — it took us a few attempts to figure out what the perfect ratio between the red peppers and tomatos was, which tomatoes were the best ones, and which spices work the most.

In the past couple of months, we received lots of bell peppers from Oddbox, so it only made sense to use them in this lovely recipe.

We also give you two alternatives here: you could go through the vegetarian/vegan route and use almonds as we’ve done here. If you require the pasta to be vegan for yourself or a friend, skip the Parmesan cheese. If you want to add guanciale, see the notes after the recipe.

red pepper and tomato pasta with almonds

Pasta with Red Pepper and Tomato Sauce

An easy, quick pasta for when you want to add a bit of flair to the classic tomato sauce.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian
Servings 2 servings

Equipment

  • Blender or Hand Blender or Kitchen Robot
  • Big Pan
  • Chef's Knife
  • Big Pot
  • Pestle & Mortar (optional)

Ingredients
  

  • 220 gr spaghetti or other long pasta
  • 1 big red bell pepper
  • 1 big salad tomato or 10 cherry tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove (crushed but not minced)
  • 1 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • Salt
  • Black pepper
  • 8 whole almonds
  • 1 tbsp Parmesan cheese (optional)

Instructions
 

  • Start by heating up the olive oil in the pan and adding the crushed garlic clove to infuse for approximately 5 minutes. Keep it on a very low flame.
  • Add the chilli flakes and the paprika and let cook for a 2 minutes.
  • In the meantime, roughly chop the pepper and the tomato(es) and put it in a blender/food processor. Blend until you have a smooth and consistent mix.
  • Add the tomato and pepper mix to the pan with the garlic and spices. Add the tomato paste. Add salt and plenty of black pepper. Let cook for approximately 15 minutes or until the sauce is reduced over a medium flame.
  • While the sauce is cooking, bring the water in the pot to a boil and start cooking your pasta. It should take approximately 10 minutes, so it should be cooked at the same time of the sauce. Be sure to salt it before you put the pasta in.
  • While you wait for the pasta and sauce to cook, crush the almonds. You can use a pestle and mortar or anything you see fit (we've put the almonds in a bag and hit them with a pan before — get creative!).
  • Once the pasta is cooked al dente, drain it and add it to the tomato and pepper mixture in the pan. Mix together on a high flame for less than 1 minute, stirring regularly. Plate and add the crushed almonds and the parmesan cheese (if you're using it) on top.
Keyword Easy Recipes, Pasta Recipes, Quick Recipes, Simple Recipes

Vegan or not? The Guanciale alternative

If you’re like my dad, hearing that a dish is vegan might make you raise your eyebrows. Some people think all meals must have to have some meat. Though as we’ve found, this isn’t the case.

At the same time, adding guanciale to any dish is always a great option. If you want to add it to this dish, here’s how:

  • Cut it into small strips and cook it in the pan by itself, before you add the oil, over medium high heat for 8-10 mins until crispy.
  • Take out the guanciale and add a bit of olive oil to the pan and proceed with the recipe as written above.
  • Add the guanciale back in before mixing the pasta.
Pasta with red pepper and tomato sauce with crunchy almonds

Where to find guanciale

I know that the biggest problem living outside of Italy is to source the right ingredients. However, after a deep and thorough search, I have compiled a list of places where you can try your luck. While this is hopefully helpful for everyone wherever in the world you might, it might be a bit London-centric.

  • Italian delis: not all of them will have it so it might be a hit or miss; if you live in London, drop us a comment and I can share a few of our trusted ones, especially in North and South London.
  • Italian produce e-commerces: there are so many of them even I can’t keep track; one of the most famous is Nife Is Life – the saviour of Italians in the UK — they offer a huge variety of Italian food at decent prices. Others are L’Isola Buona, Dolceterra, and Vorrei.
  • Other online shops: for when I find myself not going back to Italy anytime soon, I make sure to have a good list of options to buy guanciale from for emergencies, including Kimber’s, and sometimes Ocado.
  • If you’re in London and can’t find a nearby Italian deli and don’t want to wait for delivery, your best bet is to head over to Borough Market, and find the stall of Gastronomica. While you’re there you may as well buy everything else as well. (Literally, everything.) It’s my favourite stall in the market. It makes me feel like home and the produce they sell is absolutely amazing. (You can also buy online on their website.)
  • If you’re outside of the UK, you still have a few alternatives. If you have delis, always try there first. In the US, obviously Italian-heavy communities like NYC and Boston will have some delis. Some Whole Foods locations have it, though others don’t. You can also try IGourmet, which has an impressive selection of Italian produce. You can also try Eatalian Food for Europe/Worldwide orders, although you might want to do a big bulky order on this one.

Final Thoughts on this Red Pepper & Tomato Pasta

Pasta is easy and comfortable at the same time. We were watching Suburra lately (it’s still on Netflix and going for a third season, just saying). What strikes me about the series – apart from the unrealistic lack of traffic in Rome – is that they never eat, but when they do is always a massive bowl of pasta. To be more specific, it’s always pasta aglio olio e peperoncino (which translates to garlic, oil and chilli pasta and which we have an Asian-inspired version of). It doesn’t matter if you’re coming back from a night out or if you just killed one of the main mob characters of Ostia, a big bowl of pasta is gonna fix you right up.

The essence of pasta aglio e olio is that in all its simplicity, it’s absolutely amazing. It takes the time of cooking the spaghetti (it’s always spaghetti) but then the result is so comforting that it feels like a Michelin-star chef made it. Like our Chinese version of it, the red pepper and tomato pasta is the same way: it has a sweetness to it, a bit of heat, a nice crunch. It’s nice, comforting, and never disappoints.