July 03, 2022

VEGAN RECIPE REVIEW: Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

Bell peppers are one of my very favorite vegetables. It's interesting, because I never liked them until I was pregnant with Eli in 2005--and then I just couldn't get enough of them! It's funny how pregnancy can do that to a woman.

This recipe had me at "roasted red pepper". I printed it out after finding it, but it had a LOT of ingredients and when trying to figure out what to cook for dinner, I tend to skip over recipes with tons of ingredients. However, I happened to have all of the ingredients for this one day, so I was excited to make it.

I got this recipe from Oh My Veggies (I'll link to it again at the end of the post). I have to point out something I just now realized--the printable recipe is not quite the same as the one on the recipe page. So, I'm writing this based on the printable one.

Like I said, there are a lot of ingredients: bell peppers, olive oil, dried oregano, dried thyme, pasta, plant-based milk, tamari, apple cider vinegar, turmeric, cumin, nutritional yeast, cashews, onion, garlic, tomato paste, and green peas.

Not pictured is the tamari, but I didn't forget to use it ;)

I could have gone and bought red bell peppers to use instead of the yellow and orange, but I wanted to use those before they went bad. On the recipe site, it says not to substitute a different color of bell pepper; on the printable recipe, that note is not included. Otherwise, you know I like to review recipes when I make them exactly as-written.

I also didn't realize that I didn't have to chop up the bell peppers. The recipe site shows them in large slices (maybe quarters) but the printable recipe says "chopped".  So that's what I did. (I just wish I'd known so I didn't spend so much time chopping.) 

First, you chop up the peppers and put them in a baking dish with olive oil, oregano, and thyme; then roast until soft.


I guess I did have a red bell pepper! I don't remember what the deal was with this; I made it last week. But anyways...

When the peppers are roasting, you just cook pasta according to package directions; I used rotini.

Then you transfer the peppers to the blender and add the plant based milk, tamari, apple cider vinegar, turmeric, cumin, nutritional yeast, and cashews. Let it rip until it's a smooth sauce. I have to say, the sauce didn't look very appealing. It was fun trying out the new blender, though! It worked really well to make the sauce smooth, even though it was thick.


Then (yes, another step!) you heat a pot and cook the onions, garlic, and tomato paste. This seemed a little odd to me because of the texture being so thick, but I just kept a close eye on it, stirring to make sure it didn't burn.


Once the onion is soft, you add the pasta, sauce, and peas and stir it all together. 


It definitely did not LOOK appetizing, but I was excited to eat anyway because I was starving. Jerry and I each scooped some out into a bowl and took a bite.

We looked at each other. Then I said, "Well, what else is there that we can have for dinner?" Hahaha. We weren't fans of it at all. It had an odd undertone of flavor that I couldn't really pinpoint, but it just didn't taste very good.

There was a lot of sauce for the amount of pasta, which would be okay if the sauce was spectacular. You would think there would be tons of flavor considering all the ingredients, but it tasted kind of bland and like there was something just "not right" about it. (Maybe it'd be different if I'd actually used just red peppers.)

I asked the kids to taste it, too, and it's no surprise that they weren't into it either. So, unfortunately, this recipe was not a winner in my house. It's not something that I would be interested in trying again with some adjustments, either. I like the idea of it--it sounded delicious!--but it was disappointing. I always feel bad saying that I don't like something, but it's just how I felt about it. And food is all about personal preference anyway ;) 

This full recipe for this Roasted Red Pepper Pasta can be found at Oh My Veggies.

4 comments:

  1. You might enjoy this one!
    https://pinchofyum.com/creamy-red-pepper-pasta-blistered-tomatoes?fbclid=IwAR0aIwcjUtB28v9E_nnEd30175THOt37vymPWHpL_oubhBHJTLpDv3aHi68#tasty-recipes-63849

    It's one of my favourites.

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  2. Honestly, I'm not sure why the recipe author paired cumin and tamari together with roasted red peppers. Cumin is great in Mexican and Middle Eastern cuisine, and tamari is a standard flavor in Asian cuisine--those two should never really combine. Plus the recipe has Italian seasonings--oregano and thyme--and I would never put those together with cumin and tamari! One thing that's helpful when seeing if a recipe might be good is thinking about the different seasonings and whether they really go together. I think this recipe might be good with just Italian flavors--oregano, basil, and such--but not cumin and tamari. Ugh.

    Also, I've always understood roasted red peppers to be done on a high heat until the skins are blackened, and then you put them in a bag to soften the skins to peel them away. The way the recipe has you do it, they're just cooked bell peppers, not really roasted.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Love how honest you are!

    ReplyDelete
  4. It looks good but I am gluten free & I am not sure if this would work with rice.

    ReplyDelete

I used to publish ALL comments (even the mean ones) but I recently chose not to publish those. I always welcome constructive comments/criticism, but there is no need for unnecessary rudeness/hate. But please--I love reading what you have to say! (This comment form is super finicky, so I apologize if you're unable to comment)

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