Baked Penne with Roasted Red Peppers, Artichokes, and Goat Cheese Recipe

The only thing we precooked was the pasta.

Jarred roasted
red peppers provided the perfect big, bold flavor base for a simple no-cook sauce.

All you have to do is rinse them first to wash away the brining liquid before patting them dry and chopping them.

For a bright, balanced sauce, we processed the peppers with prepared pesto, a power house ingredient that combines basil, Parmesan, garlic, and olive oil in one.

After tossing our robustly flavored (and richly colored) sauce with the cooked pasta (tubular penne worked well here), stir in chopped marinated artichokes, which helped ensure our great-tasting pasta dish was filling, too.

Dollops of goat cheese, thinned slightly with a small amount of heavy cream, made for a creamy, tangy topping.

Baked Penne with Roasted Red Peppers, Artichokes, and Goat Cheese Recipe – Process

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees.

Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot.

Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until nearly al dente.

Reserve ½ cup cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to pot.

Meanwhile, pulse goat cheese, cream, ½ teaspoon salt, and ½ teaspoon pepper together in food processor until smooth, about 8 pulses; transfer to bowl.

Rinse, pat dry, and coarsely chop roasted red peppers.

Process pepper s and pesto together in food processor (no need to clean processor bowl) until smooth about 25 seconds scraping down sides of bowl as needed.

Drain artichokes and to cut into 1/2 inch pieces.

Stir red pepper-pesto mixture into pasta and toss to coat adding reserved cooking water as needed to adjust consistency.

Fold in artichokes and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Transfer mixture to greased 8-inch square baking dish and dollop goat cheese mixture over top.

Bake until bubbling around edges and cheese is spotty brown – about 15 minutes Let cool slightly and serve.

Baked Penne with Roasted Red Peppers, Artichokes, and Goat Cheese Recipe – Roasted Red Peppers

Roasted red peppers add a sweet, subtly smoky flavor too many dishes and they help cut down on prep time (no need to roast your own).

Peppers are packed with flavorful ingredients like garlic herbs and vinegar tasted good plain: but those flavors weren’t appreciated when Incorporated into a sauce or dish.

In the end, a good choice are Dunbara Sweet Roasted Peppers; the label lists only red bell peppers, water, salt, and citric acid in the ingredient list.

No matter which brand you buy, just be sure to rinse and pat the peppers dry before using them to drain off their packing liquid.

Baked Penne with Roasted Red Peppers, Artichokes, and Goat Cheese Recipe – Ingredients

SERVES 4
8 ounces (2½ cups) penne
6 ounces goat cheese
1/3 cup heavy cream
3 cups jarred
roasted red peppers
½ cup prepared basil pesto
¼ cups marinated artichokes