All the Single Peppers, All the Single Peppers: a Creamy Pasta Sauce

Last night, I hosted a fun little ladies' night for Ella's 8 months and thought it would be nice to serve:

a) Carbs

b) A sauce made from scratch

c) Loads of wine

d) Homemade hummus appetisers

e) More wine

Although I was utterly disappointed by the pasta-sauce ratio (I always cook too much starch: I was thinking, we were 4 ladies, then René will come home, what if he brings a friend? Everyone must be fed!!), the sauce turned out very tasty and I would love to recreate it for a smaller pot. What could have been very tasty and colourful felt a tad spread too thin. But my intentions were good and everyone enjoyed the pot, conversations and cake- so let's move on!

The colour payoff for this sauce is so satisfying, it looks like a turmeric latte mixed with melted gold!? So reach for those lonely, softening peppers in your fridge and get grilling.

Oh, and if you needed more convincing (how?) I made a list of the benefits brought to you by peppers:

1. Great sources of potassium

2. Electrolytes

3. Vitamin B-6

4. Can reduce anaemia

5. Vitamins C and E

6. Good for eyesight (improve vision)

7. Antioxidants

8. SHINY HAIR

9. Combat diabetes

10. Reduce 'bad' cholesterol

11. Keep skin youthful

12. Anti-inflammatory powers

So be kind to yourself, make this sauce!

You will need,

Baby peppers (I used a full bag as they shrink a lot, cut in half)

Orange bell pepper (1, cut in quarters)

You can easily use 3-4 bell peppers depending on their sizes, I simply had a bag of baby peppers to use up!)

Shallots (2, thinly sliced)

Garlic (4 cloves)

Basil salt (for taste)

Black pepper (for taste, go wild)

Spaghettini (1 pack)

Olive oil (to sprinkle on the oven tray + when heating the sauce)

Corn starch (1 1/2 tbsp)

Pepper flakes (1 tbsp)

Sea salt (for the blender, a pinch)

Oat milk (1 1/2 cup)

Shredded mozzarella (1/2 cup, I used dairy-free cheese)

Inspiration: The Minimalist Baker, who made a vegan version

A few steps,

1. Roast peppers in the oven at 400 degrees with a sprinkle of olive oil, basil salt and black pepper for about 25 minutes or, depending on the size of the pieces you chopped, until they have blackened a bit. You can also choose to broil for a fraction of the time. The taste does change a little! Set aside.

2. In a medium-sized skillet over medium heat, toss garlic, olive oil, shallots, salt and pepper for a few minutes, until fragrant (3-4 minutes).

3. Throw garlic mix and roasted peppers in a blender with corn starch, milk, sea salt and pepper flakes. Blend for a few seconds, until it has a thick liquid consistency.

4. Pour back into the pan (I used the same one I sautéed garlic in) and slowly add the cheese while stirring. Pour over pasta and mix well. Preferably not an army batch's worth like I did. Serve right away sprinkled with parsley, pepper flakes or Parm and enjoy!

Do people still mention you need to cook the pasta? Let that be the pre-final step.