Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Sauce with Italian spices and fresh basil. This sauce is easy to make and full of flavor and oil-free!
I love home cooked sauces, dips, pestos and soups. You just can’t orchestrate that home cooked flavor without, well….making it homemade. I wanted to make another dish screaming with flavor that you don’t miss the meat in. So yesterday morning I made the sauce and kept it in the fridge until dinner time. Doing this really lets the flavors marry and bring out more flavor the longer they sit. I like to use fresh herbs in these types of dishes, so basil it was.
The vegetables before going into the oven. Season generously with salt and pepper.
I put the onions in a separate pan. Season the same way as the other vegetables.
This is how the tomatoes should look after roasting…bursting with juice and flavor…yum!
After all the vegetables (bell pepper, onions, tomatoes and garlic) have roasted, add them with all the spices into a food processor and pulse for several minutes until completely smooth. This is how it will look. If you can, make this in the morning and store it in the fridge until dinner time and then just reheat over the stove on simmer and cook the pasta, zucchini, breadsticks and dinner is served!
This should make enough for leftovers, depending on how much pasta you use.
I can’t wait to hear what you all think of this amazing Vegan Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Sauce! The fresh basil and roasted veggies really drives home exceptional flavor. Leave me feedback below and star rate the recipe. I love hearing from you all!
Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 10.5 oz carton of organic grape tomatoes or about 2 cups
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced
- 3-4 large garlic cloves
- 1 red onion, sliced
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves or a good handful, adjust to your taste, do not omit, it really completes the sauce!
- salt and pepper
- 8 oz of gluten-free brown rice pasta
Instructions
- I suggest making the red pepper sauce in the morning (or the day before) to let it sit in the fridge until dinner time. This will ensure a deeper flavor for the herbs to marry together. To make the sauce, line a baking sheet with parchment paper, or foil sprayed with nonstick spray. Put the tomatoes, sliced bell pepper and garlic cloves with skin intact (do not peel them!) on the sheet. Season generously with sea salt and pepper. Put the onions in a separate pan so all the vegetables are not overcrowded, season the same way and cover loosely with foil so the onions don't burn. Roast the tomatoes, garlic and bell pepper for 15 minutes at 400 degrees and the onions for about 20 minutes.
- Once the vegetables are done, put them, with all the pan juices, into a food processor (after removing the skins off the garlic cloves) with all of the remaining ingredients. Pulse until completely smooth, a few minutes. Taste and add any additional salt if desired. If making in the morning, store in the fridge until dinner.
- At dinner, I chose to serve my pasta with zucchini, but choose whatever you like. I sliced 2 large zucchini into half moon shapes and seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder and oregano. Spread out on a parchment paper lined sheet pan, not foil. Bake at 415 degrees for 15-20 minutes and then broil for the last few minutes, until the tops are golden. While the zucchini is cooking, prepare the pasta. Make sure to season the pasta water well with salt and drizzle some olive oil in there as well, helps the pasta to not stick later.
- For the breadsticks, I just sliced a couple pieces of Ezekiel bread into breadstick shapes. Season with salt, garlic powder and oregano. Bake at 400 degrees for 5-10 minutes or until golden brown.
- Reheat the red pepper sauce over simmer for a few minutes. Put everything into a large bowl and toss with the sauce. Add any more salt if desired. Garnish with fresh basil.
Oh my goodness I am making this tomorrow!! Thank you so much for this recipe! I LOVE pasta and homemade sauce. Yumm!
Thanks Kelly! I hope you like it…let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Homemade pasta sauce is one of my favourite things – thanks for this recipe, it looks amazing!
Thank you Lissa! It was delicious and sooo easy. I hope you’ll try it and let me know how it turns out. You can add any other veggies to it also…this sauce is so versatile! 🙂
Oh my Word! You have got to try this recipe! Not only it is so easy to make but it makes your taste buds sing. The red pepper sauce is to die for and very dificult not to gobble it up by itself. I bet it would make a great dip. My husband just raved on this recipe and went back for seconds. Darn, I thought I was going to have enough for two night’s dinner. The zucchini and breadsticks rounded oud the recipe perfectly.
I’m so glad y’all loved it so much!!
A delightful & well-flavoured pasta dinner! 🙂
Thank you so much Sophie!! So glad you liked it! 🙂
Holy Cow! Does this look amazing!! YUM!
Aww thanks Heather!! I hope you try it! It was super yummy! 🙂
This dish was delicious! As a wife and mom of 3, it’s often a challenge to find recipes that are full of nutrition, good taste and are not too time consuming to prepare. This dish was easy to prepare, flavorful and full of nutritious ingredients. Thanks Brandi, I look forward to trying more of your recipes!
Thanks so much Monica for the generous comment!! I know you have your hands full lady…so I’m glad you found it easy to make!! 🙂
This spiral pasta looks like its bursting with delicious flavours 😀
Yum!
Also thanks so much for following my blog, I hope you enjoy it!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks so much! It is very flavorful :)You’re chocolate chip photo definitely has caught my eye! I look forward to visiting your blog and everything looks delish!
This sauce sounds wonderful! I love the flavors of roasted tomatoes and peppers.
Thank you Allison!! Me too 🙂
This is and looks delish!! I have never cooked with red pepper paste and it sounds interesting; even in chili. I am still going through your recipes and they are all scrumptious!
Sincerely,
judy
Awww thanks so much for the compliment Judy!! Red pepper paste is amazing because it gives a nice and different heat than dried spices..it’s delish and a little goes a long way!
I totally agree with you about jarred or canned pasta sauces! I’d rather make my own too. Thank you for sharing your recipe. And thanks for visiting my blog too!
Thank you Joanie!! 🙂 Yep, homemade is the only way to go!
Yum this looks so delicious! I had a roasted pepper sauce with spiral pasta at a restaurant overseas about seven years ago. I’ll never forget it! I’ll have to make it again soon – thanks for the inspiration =)
Oh how wonderful! Oh goodness, I hope mine can be as enjoyable as yor experience! Thanks so much and let me know if you do try it! 🙂
Oh my gosh that looks so profesh but sounds so easy, I almost can’t believe it! I have spiral pasta at home and can’t wait to try this out!
Thank you so much Erika!! I hope you do and enjoy it! 🙂
I love this recipe and your blog! Am following it!
Thank you so much! I appreciate that a lot! 🙂
This looks and sounds beautiful. There were lots of lovely fresh tomatoes at my local market this morning, ready for roasting. I’m going to have to hunt for nutritional yeast. I’ve never cooked with it before, but I’m intrigued! PS. Love that you ‘massage’ your vegetables!
Thank you so much Saskia!! I hope you enjoy it, let me know if you try it! Nutritional yeast has a similar nutty, salty, cheesy flavor like Parmesan cheese. It adds great flavor to everything! Haha, yes, massaging is a must! 🙂
Looks great! I love pasta!
Thank you Tiffany!
I made the sauce over the weekend… so EASY and delicious! I served it with spaguetti squash and shrim… it was amazing!
Wonderful Karol! Thank you so much for letting me know…I love feedback! So glad you enjoyed it and the spaghetti squash sounds amazing…I still haven’t tried that 🙂
how long do you think this sauce can stay refrigerated before it spoils?
Hi Adrea! I would say at least 3 days, maybe even up to 5. For me, most food I make, I eat within 3 to 4 days.
I needed a quick meal – something with no beans or potatoes the other night and this recipe was suggested. Holy smokes it is so quick and delicious. I already had roasted peppers in my freezer so this took about as long as the time for the noodles to cook. I served it to my hubby and he really loved the smoky flavor paired with the basil. I even threw in a little raw tomato and could see how adding some roasted broccoli or another veggie would work great. This sauce could be a great topping to lots of things! Thanks Brandi.
I’m so happy you and your hubby loved this Estee! Thank you so much for making it! It is great on so many things, you are so right. It’s really good on potatoes too!
Brandi, I just have to add that this sauce has become my go to base sauce. Do I want something with a little TexMex flair? Easy, I just change up the spices with more chili powder and some roasted Pablano mixed in (really good btw over roasted portabello mushrooms with some Spanish rice and baked tortilla chips). Do I want it more on the Italian side? Sure! Just omit the chili powder and add in some cheap white wine (really, really good BTW because you get to drink the rest of the bottle). So my point? I never was strong or confident in the sauce area, until now. So thanks!