A pasta dish that screams ‘SUMMER’! Pasta with Bell Peppers is refreshingly light without skimping on sweet, salty, and earthy flavors. Simply delicious!
Not something that you would typically see in a pasta dish, I agree.
The key is to make sure that you have cooked the bell peppers enough for their sweetness to come out.
Contrast that with the earthiness and saltiness from the olives and capers – and voila!
Serve it as a side dish for grilled meat or as a meal on its own!
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Ingredients
- Olive oil – use extra virgin olive oil, if possible.
- Bell peppers – red, yellow, and orange bell peppers; any or a combination of these three, just not the green ones.
The flavor of the green bell pepper is too strong, even when fried, so better to skip it.
- Garlic – minced or sliced thinly will be excellent for this bell pepper pasta recipe.
- Olives – green olives with no pit, rinsed and chopped.
- Capers – rinsed and drained.
- Seasoning – salt, pepper, and peperoncino (also known as chili flakes).
- Parsley – fresh parsley for garnish.
- Pasta – As the image above shows, I used linguine to make this pasta with bell peppers recipe.
Preparation
Start preparing pasta with bell peppers by cooking the pasta as per package instructions.
Place a medium or a large pan over medium-high heat and add olive oil.
Once the oil is ready, turn the heat up to medium-high and add the bell peppers.
Saute for a few minutes until you see some softening — no need to mix it continuously (photo 1).
Add garlic, salt and pepper, and peperoncino (photo 2).
Mix and adjust the heat to medium.
Continue cooking until the peppers are almost done.
Add olives and capers (photo 3).
Mix to combine everything (photo 4).
Once the bell peppers are completely soft, the pasta should already be ready as well.
Add the cooked pasta directly into the pan (photo 5).
Pour some pasta water (photo 6).
Continue mixing to make sure the pasta is evenly coated; season if needed.
Transfer pasta with bell peppers into plates.
Serve — garnish with fresh parsley, if preferred.
Helpful tips
- If you can, try to chop the bell peppers slightly thinner than the pasta. It makes it easier for the peppers to stick to the pasta when picking with a fork.
- Do not forget to rinse and drain both the olives and the capers.
- Stick to green olives; the black ones are too mild in flavor, while kalamata are too salty.
The green ones provide the perfect balance of saltiness and earthiness to the dish.
Recipe variation
- Other pasta shapes. If you can, use pasta that is NOT tubular — like spaghetti or linguine.
It’s easier for the olive oil-based sauce to coat them, and they’re almost the same shape as the bell peppers.
See how easy it is to prepare? So, grab some peppers now and give this bell pepper pasta recipe a try! 🙂
*This post first appeared in Food and Journeys.
Happy cooking!
IF YOU WANT TO SEE MORE QUICK AND DELICIOUS PASTA RECIPES, THEN CHECK THESE POSTS!
Pasta with Bell Peppers Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 7 ounces pasta (about 200 grams)
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 large yellow bell pepper, julienned
- 2 large red bell pepper, jullienned
- 2 cloves garlic, minced or thinly sliced
- 2 tsp capers, rinsed and drained
- 8 pieces olives, rinsed and chopped
- dash peperoncino (chili flakes)
- salt and pepper
- parsley, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Boil salted water and prepare the pasta as instructed in its package.
- Use a medium or a large pan to heat olive oil over medium-high heat.
- Once olive oil is ready, add peppers.
- Mix and saute peppers until slightly soft.
- Add garlic, salt, pepper, and peperoncino; mix and adjust heat to medium.
- Continue cooking until the peppers are almost cooked.
- Add olives and capers. Mix to combine.
- Add cooked pasta.
- Add some pasta water and mix, making sure that the pasta is coated with the olive oil-based sauce.
- Take the pan off the heat and transfer pasta and bell peppers into plates.
- Garnish with some roughly chopped fresh parsley, if preferred.
- Serve.
Notes
- Cook’s Tip #1: Try to chop the peppers a bit thinner than the pasta to make it easier for them to stick when picking with a fork.
- Cook’s Tip #2: Do not use tubular types of pasta like penne or rigatoni. If you can, use strands or thin ribbons types like spaghetti and linguine.
- Cook’s Tip #3: Rinse and drain the olives and capers.
- Cook’s Tip #4: Stick to green olives; they have the right amount of saltiness and earthiness that complements pasta with bell peppers.
- Cook’s Tip #5: Do not throw the pasta water! At least set some aside; you will need it to finish the dish.
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