Doing Pasta Right With A Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Chef Dennis K Littley serves up a Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, and a suggestion on how to create a delicious Paduan Chicken And Shrimp Pasta.
By Dennis K Littley

Paduan Pepper Pasta
During my restaurant days I loved blending foods together, creating dinners that made my customers moan! From the early days of TV Food Stars, my fondest memories will always be of Graham Kerr bringing people down from the audience to taste his latest creation. The faces they made were of pure ecstasy, and sometimes a moan of carnal pleasure would escape their lips….the audience would oooohhh and ahhhhh. Needless to say this made a lasting impression on me, my goal with any meal I prepared would be to get the same response.

One of my personal favorites was always my Roasted Red Pepper Sauce, I had dubbed it a Paduan Pepper Sauce, it was of course in my mind Italian, I had a map of Italy, and I loved how it sounded and enjoyed saying it……Paduan Pepper Sauce….sigh…..it just flowed off the lips, it sounded just a bit seductive, and spoke of something wonderful yet to come……….well, that’s how I pictured it anyway. So lets get back to the sauce, I started by simply pureeing canned Roasted Peppers, and it is important to find a good brand (Mancini had been my pepper of choice in my restaurant days) a roasted pepper should be flavorful and not too bitter. If you have the time roast your own, it will be well worth your trouble. My favorite way to enjoy this sauce was simply over pasta, throw in some chicken and shrimp and I’m in heaven!!
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Paduan Pepper Sauce

1 Can Roasted Red Peppers

1 Cup Heavy Cream (2,5dl)

1/2 Cup Grated Romano Cheese (1,25dl)

4-6 fl oz (2-3cl)Liquid from reconstituting Sun Dried Tomatoes (Tomatoes should soak at least one hour)

3-4 fl oz (1,5-2cl) juice form Jar of Peperoncini (Tuscan Peppers)

2 fl oz (1cl) Brandy

2 Tablespoons Sugar

1. Puree the roasted red peppers until they are as smooth as possible. Add peppers into a medium sauce pan, add the remainder of the ingredients and mix well.

2. Heat sauce over medium heat for about 10 minutes stirring frequently, so it will not stick to the pan.

3. Reduce heat to low and allow sauce to continue to simmer for an hour. Reduce your sauce by about 20 % or until it returns to near the original consistency of the peppers before you added any liquid.

4. This will be the base for your sauce. If you have the time this sauce should be made at least one day ahead to give it time for the flavors to build. You can make the pepper sauce 3 or 4 days ahead of time. This sauce also freezes well, but allow it to age 2 or 3 days before freezing.

I love this sauce for pasta dishes, and since I had you use the liquid from reconstituting sun dried tomatoes were going to add some into the finished sauce. I also add peperoncini for a little spice in the sauce, but feel free to leave them out. In my restaurant days Chicken and Shrimp made an appearance in many different dishes since everyone loves shrimp, and chicken was always available at a good price. It was one of my favorite dishes using the Roasted Pepper sauce we just made. If you just want to eat it over pasta, just leave out the chicken and the shrimp.

Paduan Chicken and Shrimp (for two)

6 16-20 count shrimp

6 oz (170g) Boneless Chicken Breast cut in to strips

8 oz (225g) mushrooms sliced

2 oz (55g) sun dried tomato strips reconstituted

6 Peperoncini

4 artichoke (in brine, not marinated in oil) hearts sliced (optional)

2 cups (5dl) Roasted Pepper Sauce

2 oz (55g) Grated Romano Cheese

4 oz (8 tbsp) Greek Yogurt

Pinch of Black Pepper

Pasta of your choice

Splash of white wine

1. Cook your pasta per box instructions start when you begin to sauté your chicken, it should be done about the same time your finishing the chicken and shrimp paduan.

2. In a large sauté pan add some olive oil and start with your chicken strips, first dredge your chicken in flour seasoned with salt and pepper, then place floured strips into your hot sauté pan. Cook Chicken for about 3 minutes then turn it over.

3. After you have turned over your chicken add in your mushrooms, shrimp, and peperoncini. Sauté until the shrimp are almost done (you may have to add a little more oil to the pan when you put in the shrimp).

4. Add a splash of white wine to de-glaze the pan and then add the remaining ingredients, blending in the greek yogurt.

5. Heat well and serve over pasta.

6. I like to toss a little of the pepper sauce in the pasta, before topping with the chicken and shrinp, it adds to the appearance and the flavor. Greek yogurt is my new love and using it to enrich my pepper sauce cuts down on the fat and adds a nice flavor to the dish.

March 22, 2011

byDennis K Littley

View Comments (3) View Comments (3)

oh how I love this kind of food, really really great recipe!

Tamara Novakoviç

March 22, 2011 at 2:10 pm

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Now I can’t wait for pepper season to come! Love the thought of this sauce on a hot summer evening with a batch of freshly roasted peppers!

UrMomCooks

March 22, 2011 at 2:33 pm

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Homemade roasted peppers are irreplaceable, in my opinion. Dennis this is another perfect pasta recipe from you. I love the name and the look, just delicious!

Nancy Lopez-McHugh

March 23, 2011 at 12:44 pm

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