Bucatini with Creamy Roasted Red Bell Pepper & Harissa Sauce

Bucatini With Creamy Roasted Red Bell Pepper & Harissa Sauce

We love fusion cuisine, especially when it’s a pasta dish! This Bucatini with Creamy Roasted Red Bell Pepper & Harissa Sauce is one of them where Italian meets Middle Eastern.

It’s rich and hearty but also an elegant dish. This pasta dish is perfect to make for a date night, some special occasions, or anytime in-between!

Bucatini With Creamy Roasted Red Bell Pepper & Harissa Sauce

This is not a typical pasta dish with roasted red bell pepper cream sauce. It's a fusion dish where Italian meets Middle Eastern. It's rich and hearty but also an elegant dish. It's savory, tangy, sweet, spicy, smoky, and creamy!

Course Dinner

Cuisine Italian-Inspired, Mediterranean-Inspired

Keyword Creamy, Recipe, Vegan

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 1 30

Total Time 1 40

Servings

Author Peter & Akiko

Ingredients

Roasted Red Bell Peppers (skip this if using pre-made ones)

3-4 red bell peppers

Roasted Red Bell Pepper & Harissa Cream Sauce

1/2 cup raw unsalted cashews better soaked in water for 2 hours
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp hot water
1 1/2 cups roasted red bell peppers chopped, about 3-4 freshly roasted red bell peppers
1 clove garlic chopped
3 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 tsp dried harissa seasoning
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

The rest

1 pound bucatini
1/2-1 tbsp parsley minced , garnish
roasted bell peppers thinly sliced, garnish, optional

Instructions

**If using jarred roasted red bell peppers, skip to Step 5
Preheat a broiler at 525°F.
Place red bell peppers (whole) on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Roast in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Turn every 5 minutes or so to get charred evenly.
Take them out and transfer to a large prep bowl. Cover with a plastic wrap (crack open the edge for the heat to escape) and let it steam for about 15-20 minutes.
Peel the skin and remove the seeds and core. It’s messy but they should come off easily. Be careful not to burn yourself! Chop them coarsely and set aside.
In a large pot, start boiling water for cooking bucatini.
Meanwhile, make the sauce. In a high-speed blender, combine soaked cashews, hot water, roasted bell peppers, garlic, nutritional yeast, fresh lemon juice, harissa powder, salt and black pepper. Process until smooth. Set aside.
Start cooking bucatini in salted water for 9-11 minutes (or follow the instruction on the package.) Use a colander to drain and transfer the bucatini back in the same pot (off the heat.)
Pour the red bell pepper sauce over the bucatini. Toss well until well coated.
Serve with a sprinkle of minced parsley as a garnish. Top it with a small amount of thinly sliced roasted bell peppers (optional.)

Notes

Skip to step 5 if using jarred (pre-made) roasted red bell pepper. This will shorten the cook time by about an hour.
Using a few strips of thinly sliced extra roasted red bell peppers as a garnish adds an extra flavor and also gives a nice presentation (optional.)

Good Old Vegan

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