Roasted Red Pepper and Pecan Pesto Penne – a delicious pesto sauce made with roasted red pepper and pecans over penne. A very simple pasta dish ready in under 30 minutes.
I must be in some serious need of comfort food this week because all I can think and dream about is creamy cheesy pasta. But on a lazy summer night, this penne is simply perfect. You can make the pesto in 5 minutes, boil the pasta in another 10 minutes or so, and put it all together, and I’m being generous when I say you can have this speedy pasta in under 30 minutes, more like 20 minutes. Which means this pesto penne is perfect for those nights when you desperately need your share of comfort food, and pronto.
Not that that’s me, by any means. Stress? What’s that? The funny thing is that we are our biggest stress creators, we ourselves make our life a living hell. As much as I say to myself that I want a stress free life, I always take on more work than I can handle. Oh well, c’est la vie, no?
Thankfully we have food to make us happy, if only temporary. Not that food is the way to deal with stress by any means, but sometimes we just can’t help ourselves.
But nothing beats a bowl of super creamy and cheesy penne with bacon, nonetheless! This pesto penne right here is pure comfort. I’m a big fan of roasted red peppers, and most of the time I’ll just eat them like that alongside my meal, that’s how much I love them. But I also love making this pesto with roasted red peppers because the flavour of this pesto is just so rich and delicious. You’ve got pecans, Parmesan cheese, basil and roasted red pepper, you know it’s gotta be good.
People, this is one damn good recipe no matter how you look at it. Please make it and then come back and tell me how much you really loved it, because I know you will.
Looking for more delicious recipes? Try these:
- Penne with Prosciutto, Tomatoes and Zucchini
- Penne with Cream and Smoked Salmon
- Tomato Basil and Spinach Penne
If you try this recipe, please let us know! Leave a comment, rate it and tag a photo #jocooks on Instagram so we can see it. I always love to see what you guys come up with!
- 12 oz pasta such as penne, or fettuccine
- 1 cup pecans
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1/2 cup basil fresh
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 cup roasted red peppers 1 small jar
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- 6 slices bacon fried or leftover chicken
- 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp pepper or to taste
- Boil pasta according to package instructions.
In a food processor add pecans, garlic, basil, Parmesan cheese, olive oil and roasted red peppers. Pulse until everything together until it turns into a paste.
In a sauce pan, add the roasted red pepper paste and start with 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Cook over medium heat until it starts to boil; add mozzarella cheese and remainder 1/2 cup of heavy cream if sauce is too thick. Season with salt and pepper as needed.
Cook until cheese melts then add the pasta, bacon and toss everything together.
- Serve with some extra grated Parmesan cheese on top.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
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From the Jo Cooks recipe archive originally posted December 26, 2012. Original picture below:
So, I’m assuming you fry the bacon crisp and chop? LOL
Yes!
This looks AWESOME, Jo! Extra roasted red peppers for me, please. I’ll dig right in.
It look good to eat
You had me at 30 minutes and bacon!! I was thinking of making this, but my parents don’t eat cheese. If I omit the cheese, will it alter the taste of the recipe?
For the Parmesan cheese and mozzarella, do you use the packaged kind (e.g. Kraft) or do you use the fresh kind?
You could definitely make the pesto without the cheese, it will still be just as delicious and of course you don’t have to top with mozzarella cheese. I’m just a cheese lover and if I could I would put cheese on everything! For the mozzarella cheese I usually buy Kraft, that’s already shredded and for Parmesan I usually use fresh, and by fresh I mean I buy a big piece and grate it myself.
Thanks Joanna! Can’t wait to try this dish!
Oh jeez. I saw all that creamy cheesy goodness then realised there was BACON in it too. Swoon. (I trust some bacon “fell” on the ground for Mia?)
PS I’m a fan of roasted peppers too. They can make anything interesting – or more often, I eat them straight out of the jar. 🙂
Bacon always has a way of getting into Mia’s mouth, not sure how it happens, but it does!! 🙂
Jo~ This is soooo gorgeous and lovely!!! I love comfort food! And pasta in under 30 min is fantastic…now let’s put someone in charge of the dishes 🙂
The dishwasher? 🙂
Hahhaha yes but someone has to LOAD it!
Yes you’re right, and I hate loading/unloading the dishwasher. LOL
This looks fantastic. I make a lot of pesto variations, using different nuts, different greens, different cheeses, and they always turn out great, though I haven’t used cream. I’ll have to give that a try soon. Looks SO creamy.
I have to tell you, I have made this twice now, 2 weeks ago and then again this evening. This was a resounding success this evening. I made it with bacon, as you suggested. I even put some bacon in the food processor to mix with the sauce. The only thing i added to it was Spanish green olives. And I used bow-tie pasta instead of penne this time.
Thank you so much for this recipe!
Nice to find savory recipes with pecans in it. We have about 4-6 pecan trees on the property here.
Wow I’m jealous, I love pecans. 🙂 So glad you loved the recipe. 🙂