As soon as Banza showed up and went on sale at my local Whole Foods, I bought a box of shells. Since learning about the chickpea pasta (and seeing the product appear repeatedly in magazines and my email and social media feeds), I was eager to try it out.
That was a few weeks ago. Well, I finally put the purchase to use and threw together this pasta with roasted bell pepper and carrot sauce. It’s slightly sweet, super creamy and so satisfying.
If you can’t get your hands on Banza, any brand of pasta will do. Of course, the taste and texture of the finished dish will be a little different but still very good.
Recipe adapted from Archana’s Kitchen.
Pasta with Roasted Bell Pepper and Carrot Sauce
Makes 3-4 servings
Ingredients
- 1 red bell pepper, stem and seeds removed and cut into 6 strips
- 1 yellow bell pepper, stem and seeds removed and cut into 6 strips
- 3 red carrots, peeled and cut into 1½"-thick rounds (see notes)
- 4 garlic cloves, unpeeled
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ⅓ cup half-and-half
- pinch of dried chili flakes (optional)
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 8 ounces Banza shells or other short pasta
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place the bell peppers on one side of a baking sheet and the carrots and garlic on the other side. Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat. Arrange vegetables in a single layer, bell peppers skin side up, and bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, stir carrots and bake for 15 minutes. Remove carrots from the oven and broil the bell peppers until skins are charred, about 3 minutes. Transfer bell peppers to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let stand until cool enough to handle; then rub off skins.
- Transfer roasted bell peppers and carrots to a food processor. Squeeze out roasted garlic and add to the food processor; purée until smooth. Transfer mixture to a large fry pan.
- Add half-and-half and chili flakes, if using, and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes or until heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook shells until al dente according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid.
- Add cooked pasta to pan with sauce and toss gently to combine. If necessary, add some of the reserved cooking liquid to loosen the sauce. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
You can substitute orange carrots if it's more convenient.
This pasta looks incredibly good! love the bell pepper and carrots in this…and your printed dishes are so beautiful!
Thanks so much, Albert!
This was great! I halved the recipe and used orange carrots and all yellow pepper, I used it as a spread for toasted sourdough and then added a little goat cheese, put it under the broiler until golden brown- and it was sooo good! I think with a little broth it could even be a delicious soup!
Hi Jay – I love your creative twist on the recipe! I’ll have to try using the sauce as a spread, too … sounds delicious!
hey! I’m about to try your great recipe. Before I start I have a small question: Is it correct to boil all veggies together for 15 minutes and then remove the bell peppers. So the carrots have a total cook time of 30 minutes and the bell peppers have a time of 18 minutes (adding the 3 minutes)?
Hi Juline – Bake the bell peppers and carrots for a total of 30 minutes (stirring the carrots halfway through). Then remove the carrots and broil the bell peppers for 3 minutes. Hope that helps!