Red Pepper Pesto Pasta

This red pepper pesto features roasted peppers, sundried tomatoes, and walnuts, blended together to form a firey red pesto. It’s perfect as a pasta sauce!

Here’s a pasta recipe we dreamed up with a zesty red pepper pesto sauce. The pesto we adapted it from our own Roasted Red Pepper Pita Pizzas recipe — it’s an interesting alternative to a tomato-based sauce. We added some kale for some nice nutrients and a bit of texture. Paired with salty feta and crunchy walnuts, it’s a delicious and fancy-looking entree! Keep reading for the recipe.

How to make red pepper pesto

This red pepper pesto is incredibly easy to make! You’ll need a food processor to whip this one up. The red peppers we’re using here are roasted red peppers, from a jar. You can usually find roasted red peppers in the grocery near the olives and canned artichoke hearts. To bring in a depth of flavor, we’re also using sundried tomatoes. Look for sundried tomatoes packed in oil, versus straight up dried tomatoes. These should be available in a similar place in the grocery store.

This one takes literally 5 minutes to make: just whiz up the roasted red peppers with sundried tomatoes, walnuts, olive oil, and salt. It makes a firey red pesto that’s perfect on pasta or pizza!

How to serve this red pepper pesto

Here we’re using this red pepper pesto as a sauce for linguine, which we accessorized with chopped sauteed kale. It’s sprinkled with feta cheese for a little savory hint. If you’d like, toast some walnuts in a skillet and sprinkle them over the top too. It adds a nice crunch: but it’s also not necessary if you’re in a time crunch!

Video: How to cut kale for this kale salad

Wondering how to stem or chop kale for this red pepper pesto pasta? Alex and I have toyed with various methods over the years, but we’ve finally ended up with one that is slick and simple. Using this method changed the game for us, and we hope it will for you too! Here’s our step by step guide for how to cut kale, including a video of me cutting kale in our kitchen.

Looking for a food processor?

You’ll need a food processor for this pizza dough recipe! Here’s the one we recommend. You’ll need a large sized food processor to accommodate this batch.

Looking for more pesto recipes?

Outside of this red pepper pesto, here are a few more pesto recipes:

• Italian Pizza with Pesto
• Pesto Pizza Recipe
• Simple Garlic Scape Pesto
• Pesto Portobello Mushroom Burger
• Simple Basil Walnut Pesto
• 5 Minute Pesto Breakfast Sandwich
• Pesto Grilled Cheese on the Grill
• Pesto Grilled Cheese Dippers with Marinara
• Pesto Quinoa Recipe
• Vegetarian Pesto Pasta with Potatoes
• Easy Vegan Pesto
• Ricotta Dumplings with Kale Pesto

Looking for more pasta recipes?

And, here are a few more pasta recipes we love:

• Mushroom Pasta with Goat Cheese
• Spaghetti and Vegan Meatballs
• Penne with Pumpkin Pasta Sauce
• Gemelli Pasta with Fire Roasted Tomatoes
• 5 Delicious Vegan Pasta Recipes for Weeknights
• Italian Vegan Pasta Salad
• Creamy Pasta Marinara
• Grilled Vegetable Pasta
• Easy Pasta Puttanesca Recipe
• Cacio e Pepe

This red pepper pesto pasta recipe is…

Vegetarian. For gluten-free, use gluten-free pasta.

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