Creamy Roasted Red Bell Pepper Sauce
This Creamy Roasted Red Bell Pepper Sauce is beautifully creamy and tangy, making it a delicious alternative to homemade tomato sauce - perfect for stirring through pasta, spreading on pizza or using as a dip for warm crusty bread.
Servings: 1 large jar
Ingredients
- 3 red bell peppers sliced
- 1 red onion sliced
- 1 large bulb of garlic sliced in half
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 250 g mascarpone
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180c fan.
- Place the peppers and onion onto a large non-stick baking tray. Nestle in the garlic, cut-side down, then season everything generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Drizzle over the olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Roast in the oven for 25-30 minutes, stirring halfway through, or until everything is softened and beginning to char.
- Leave to cool for 5 minutes. Remove the garlic before carefully tipping into a food processor or blender. Squeeze the garlic from the skin - it should be lovely and soft. Discard the skin. Blend until smooth, then add the mascarpone and blitz again until thick and creamy.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning. Spoon into a jar or tupperware and leave to cool completely before covering and chilling until needed.
Notes
Make it vegan: you can make a vegan-friendly Creamy Roasted Red Bell Pepper Sauce by swapping the mascarpone for a plant-based cream mascarpone or cream cheese. You could even use Boursin Plant Based for a delicious garlic and herb flavour.
Up the umami: if you aren’t making this for vegetarians, I love adding a generous handful of freshly grated Parmesan when adding the mascarpone. It adds the most delicious cheesy, umami flavour that tastes so good.
Serving suggestions: this Creamy Roasted Red Bell Pepper Sauce is a delicious addition to so many dishes - from simply stirred through pasta, added to a rich ragu or lasagne, used in all sorts of pasta bakes for extra creaminess, as a base in place of tomato sauce for pizza, as a dip for warm crusty bread (or flatbread) or arancini, stirred through butter beans, or served as a sauce for pan-fried or roasted salmon fillets, pork steaks/chops or chicken breasts. The choice is up to you!