Roasted Red Pepper Pasta-Quick Meal Time

It's 10:30 p.m., and I am finally sitting down to relax. I've got a chocolate chip muffin with a dollop of peanut butter on it, i'm tired, still hungry, and for some reason i'm sucked into the HGTV channel staring at people with large muscles smash their walls with large hammers...

The days seem longer now that the littles are getting older, and I swear having one kid versus two kids feels like you jumped the gun and had 5 more. Yet these two little smiley gals bring me more joy than I thought possible, a long with the dirtiest yoga pants known to man.

I love it.

I talk a lot about dinner time, and I figure I'm like most busy mom's & dad's when I say dinner time can end up being, "Freak, it's already 5 in the afternoon?! What the heck am I going to make? I have bread, chocolate chips, and some oranges..."

No one wants to chop a bunch of veggies or prepare a meal with tons of steps because let's face it...Cutting one single carrot with two kids demanding attention feels like an ETERNITY! Or you do what I did when your attention is focused on the littles and not the task at hand, and decide 5 fingers is too many for one hand...4 sounds much better...

Any who I'm rambling, let's talk about a quick dinner that I made with only a few ingredients.

*I've always wanted to make my own roasted peppers, because I LOVE roasting veggies. To me it brings out the better flavors that food has. This dish is simple, quick, and requires only a few ingredients!

First step is roasting your pepper. You can do this under your broiler, over a grill with fire, or on the stove top right above the flame. For this recipe I used 1 1/2 red bell peppers. You could definitely use more, but I was just using what I had. Roast and charr that red pepper like no other.

While it's roasting, toast a few TB. of walnuts in a pan over low-medium heat for about 1-2 minutes. Meanwhile, cook some pasta. I used about 6-8 ounces of spinach pasta because it was all I had.

When your red pepper is roasted and charred, it should look somewhat like this:

Place it in a plastic baggy and seal it up! You need that pepper to get nice and schweaty! :)

While it's sweating it out, cut and dice one large shallot and 2-3 garlic cloves, (like the one pictured above with missing finger.)

When that is done, remove red pepper from bag and peel off skin and scape a few seeds away. Discard skins.

In a blender puree the red pepper until smooth, then throw in the walnuts and puree for about 20-30 seconds, or until no large chunks appear. (Walnuts are optional, but add great protein and flavor!)

In a saucepan over the stove heated to medium/low add your diced shallots in a pan along with 1-2 TB. of oil (I used coconut.) Once the shallots begin to cook and brown, add your pureed bell peppers/walnuts. Stir until combined, then add in about 1/4-1/3 c. of coconut milk. Stir until creamy.

Turn heat down to low and season the sauce. Add salt, lots of pepper, and a variety of fresh or dry herbs. I did some oregano and basil, and really anything would work! Then toss in your cooked pasta.

Top with parmesan cheese and serve warm!

I could emphasize over and over again how easy this is for those busy days, but let's face it. Nothing is easier than a bowl of cereal..Especially when you only have 4 fingers. :)

So keep in mind, a few extra easy minutes of time can give your family something filling and healthy! Save the cereal for the bum crack of dawn when the littles wake up and you can barely function! :)