Penne for Your Thoughts

I suppose this is my time to be racked with indecision, Gentle Reader. For several days, I was angsty over whether to quit my one freelance gig, which brings more anxiety into my daily life than I think it's worth, to have more brain span (and more patience) for everyone and everything here at Chez Boeckman-Walker or whether I should just suck it up and keep plodding (and truly what I've been producing is plodding, turgid work) so I don't become the thing I've long dreaded most--being a stay-at-home mom--or whether I should pursue my interest and accumulated experience with pharmaceuticals and health care into a new career. (This situation has since resolved itself, but the angst lingers.) Perhaps because of that indecision and lack of direction, I've had a helluva time for the past several days figuring out what to make for supper each night.

The jerk-seasoned spicy chicken couscous was a tremendous success the other night, but it just didn't set me to rights in the kitchen. So back into my digital folders of recipe links I dove, searching for something different and something that would perhaps inspire me and my taste buds to be more decisive. I don't know if the recipe I selected has accomplished that, but my taste buds are certainly happy.

Penne With Red Pepper Sauce and Broccoli4 T olive oil
1 1/2 C chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 red bell peppers, chopped
1/4 C almonds
2 t balsamic vinegar
1/2 t salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/8 t cayenne pepper
4 C broccoli florets
1 lb. penne pasta
1/3 C grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 C fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet.
   
2. Add the onions and saute them for about 5 min. or until they soften, stirring occasionally.
   
3. Lower the heat a bit, add the garlic and red pepper and continue to cook the vegetables, stirring often, for 15 min.
   
4. In a food processor or blender, finely chop the almonds.
   
5. Add the pepper-onion mixture, the vinegar and the remaining olive oil to the almonds, then blend all to a puree.
   
6. Add the salt, black pepper and cayenne to the puree, then blend briefly to incorporate them.
   
7. Arrange a vegetable steamer over water in a saucepan. Bring the water to a boil, add the broccoli, cover and cook over medium heat for 5 min. or until the broccoli is tender. Keep it warm.
   
8. Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until just tender.
   
9. Drain the pasta, then return it to the pot.
   
10. Pour the red pepper sauce, Parmesan cheese, broccoli and basil into the pot of penne.
    
11. Heat the contents over medium heat until the pasta is very hot, stirring carefully to mix well. Add more salt and pepper to taste if necessary.

Yield: 5 servings of unknown size

Nutritional Info
Just a note about the following numbers: I don't put too much faith in the nutritional info available on AllRecipes.com. I've never followed the links available to learn how they're tabulated, but some recipes I've looked at had some awfully suspect numbers.

Calories: 551
Fat: 18.7 g
Carbs: 80.8 g
Protein: 19.2 g
Fiber: 7.7 g
Cholesterol: 5 mg (See what I mean about suspect numbers!)
Sodium: 358 mg

The Faudie's Futzings
I consider this dish to be one of the most experimental I've ever done in my time as a faudie. I've never consumed a pasta dish with a sauce that wasn't based on either tomatoes or on a form of dairy. I was a bit nervous about the result--the flavor and how edible it would be. I browsed the reviews available, gleaning what I could from other users 'o this recipe, and compared what I learned from them to what I'd learned through my various adventures with red bell peppers, particularly a certain roasted red bell pepper soup.

Without further ado, here is my version of the recipe:

The Faudie's Futzed Penne With Red Pepper Sauce and Broccoli1 T and 1/2 t olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 red bell peppers
2 t balsamic vinegar
1/4 t salt
1/2 t (approx.) freshly ground black pepper
1/8 t cayenne pepper
2 to C broccoli pieces
1 C penne (uncooked)

1. Line a 9" x 13" cake pan or broiler pan with foil.
   
2. Prepare your oven's broiler for roasting veggies according to the manufacturer's suggestion. If you don't have the manual, the Hi setting should work fine.
   
3. Halve the red bell peppers, remove the seeds and ribs, place in foiled pan, then smash them as flat as you can.
   
4. Broil the peppers until as much of their skins have blackened.
   
5. Remove the blackened peppers from the pan and into a Ziplock or other container you can seal to let set for a few minutes (5 min. should be good).
   
6. One by one, remove the blackened pepper halves from the bag, peel off the blackened skin, then chop.
   
7. Place the chopped red peppers into the canister for your food processor or blender.
   
8. Heat 1/2 teaspoon (approx.) of olive oil over medium heat in a medium skillet.
   
9. Add the onions and saute them until they soften.
   
10. Add the garlic, then saute another 30 seconds to 1 min.
    
11. Clear some space in the center of the skillet, then place the 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne into that space. Let the spice toast, stirring a little, until fragrant (30 seconds to 1 min.).
    
12. Add the onion-garlic mixture, the vinegar and 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the red peppers waiting in the blender, then blend all to a puree.
    
13. Add the salt and black pepper to the puree, then blend briefly to incorporate them.
    
14. Prepare the broccoli so it is tender, then drain and keep warm.
    
15. In a large pot, prepare the pasta until just tender per package directions.
    
16. Drain the pasta, return it to its pot, then add the broccoli.
    
17. Pour the red pepper sauce over the penne and broccoli, gently tossing to combine.
    
18. Serve immediately, or otherwise keep warm on the stove.

Suggested toppings: Grated Parmesan, mozzarella or cheddar cheeses (although I like mine without such intruders)

So why did I roast my bell peppers? Because I was concerned about the texture of the sauce if I left them on. I don't think sauteeing the peppers to the point of tenderness then pureeing them would make the sauce as smooth as I know pureed and skinless red peppers can be. Plus I just kinda enjoy roasting and skinning red bell peppers now that I know how to do it right!

If you like pasta dishes but are in the mood for something different, I highly recommend this recipe. You don't have to roast your peppers (though please do tell me how your sauce turns out if you don't), and you could probably add a myriad of spices to the sauce to suit your tastes. Me, I like the relatively unaltered taste of red bell peppers, thus I didn't add anything not given in the original recipe.