Romano Pepper Pasta

 

This recipe was the result of me being really excited to make my own tomato pasta sauce… only to realise I’d forgotten to buy any tomatoes! Thankfully, the Romano peppers in this recipe have an amazing flavour, and a touch of tomato purée is enough tomato without overriding the flavours! It’s the perfect summery pasta sauce 😊

This made three portions, and took just over an hour to make.

Ingredients

• 7.7 oz pasta (I used Trofie!)
• 2 Romano peppers
• 1 large carrot
• 1 onion
• 200g mushrooms
• 25g cashews
• 2 TBSP nooch
• 1 pack vegan sausages (I used heck vegan chipolatas!)
• 1/2 TBSP chilli oil (use regular for less spice)
• 1 TSP dried basil
• 1 TSP dried oregano
• 1 TSP garlic granules
• 1 TSP Marmite
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Method

1. Peel and chop the carrot and onion into large chunks. Chop and deseed the peppers and also cut into large pieces. 
2. Place the chopped veggies on a baking tray. Drizzle over the oil and sprinkle the garlic, oregano and basil and mix to cover the veggies. Roast for 30 minutes until cooked.
3. Place the veggies on a cold plate, and leave for around 15 minutes until cool (don’t blend them while they’re hot, it’s dangerous!)
4. While the veggies are cooling, start cooking the pasta according to the label, and soak the cashews in some boiling water for around 10 minutes
5. Just before the veggies are ready to blend, chop the mushrooms and vegan sausages and fry until browned
6. Into a blender, add the now cooled roasted vegetables, nooch, marmite, soaked cashews, and ~ 100ml water and blend. Add more water if needed to get the sauce to the right consistency.
7. Add the sauce and a bit of pasta water to the mushrooms and vegan sausages. Add the cooked pasta and stir to combine 
8. Server with some vegan cheese and salt and pepper to taste! This also goes really well topped with mixed seeds 😊