Linguini And Roasted Peppers With Hazelnuts

Total Time: 40 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 3 ounces parmigiano-reggiano cheese, cut into pieces
• 4 red bell peppers, roasted and peeled (red bell peppers or a combination of red, orange and or or yellow)
• about 1/3 cup fresh basil leaves or about 1/3 cup fresh italian parsley
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 fresh garlic cloves, peeled
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh coarse ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon spanish smoked paprika (this replaced red pepper flakes)
• 12 ounces linguine (fresh pasta is preferred but dried will work)
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped roasted hazelnuts (or pine nuts)
• additional shredded parmigiano-reggiano cheese, to garnish
• fresh basil or parsley, for garnish

Recipe

• 1 roasting the bell peppers: this time i chose to roast the bell peppers over an open flame on the range top. take long handled tongs and run the bell peppers over medium flame until the skin starts to blister evenly.
• 2 place the roasted bell peppers in a cast iron or heat resistant skillet and cover with a lid for 15-20 to "sweat". after the time has passed, remove as much skin as you can (if there are a few bits and pieces of blistered skin remaining that is okay). take a knife and scrape off the seeds; remove the stem and membrane. chop the bell peppers coarsely. proceed with recipe.
• 3 place the cheese chunks in a food processor and grind using the pulse button so that you don’t over-process the cheese.
• 4 add the roasted peppers, basil, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and spanish smoked paprika.
• 5 continue processing on the pulse setting until the mixture is ground to a coarse sauce consistency (chunks will remain).
• 6 adjust the seasoning, adding additional salt and pepper if necessary, then scrape the sauce into a bowl and set aside.
• 7 bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. add the pasta and cook just until tender. drain the pasta from the water (reserving about 1/4 cup of the hot pasta water, which you will add to the sauce when tossing with the pasta).
• 8 place the cooked and drained pasta in a large bowl. add the sauce and toss well to coat the linguini.
• 9 if the mixture seems a bit dry, add a couple of tablespoons of the hot pasta water.
• 10 garnish with the hazelnuts and toss again before serving.
• 11 additional cheese may be passed at the table. garnish with fresh basil or parsley, too.
• 12 note: the sauce was at room temperature when it was added to the pasta.