This rich and creamy roasted red pepper sauce is loaded with amazing flavors from red peppers, buttery roasted garlic cloves, Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.
Roasted Red Pepper Sauce
In Provo, Utah, there is a restaurant just south of BYU campus called Brick Oven. They serve pizzas and pasta and it is an institution for anyone who has ever been to BYU. In my 8 years in Provo as first an undergrad and then a law student, I went there on dates, before or after ball games or dances, to celebrate birthdays or graduation, or for no reason at all other than my family was in town to visit and the food at Brick Oven is just goooood. Not fancy or ground-breaking, but definitely delicious. Especially their roasted red pepper sauce.
My favorite thing about Brick Oven is their pasta bar where you choose two from ten or so different fresh pastas that change from day-to-day (black pepper fettucini! garlic fettucini! red pepper fettucini! I need to learn to make pasta so I can have them all!) and they get dumped into boiling water and cooked for you right there as you watch. While you wait, you can select either meatballs or Italian sausages and garlic bread pulled straight from an open-flame brick oven to go with your pasta. Then you get to choose your sauce, which is self-serve so you can do any combination you want. I always chose the roasted red pepper sauce, usually with a little marinara or alfredo sauce on the side for good measure (and because I could!).
Now that I don’t live in Provo anymore, if I want amazing roasted red pepper sauce like I remember from Brick Oven, I have to make it myself. Like my classic homemade marinara sauce or the sauce from my Bombay House (incidentally, another BYU hotspot) copycat chicken tikka masala, this roasted red pepper sauce takes a little extra time. It’s not hard, and it’s not like you will be slaving all day, but there are a couple of extra steps, like roasting your peppers and garlic, that are totally worth it because the flavor of the sauce is so wonderful and unique. Use this tutorial on how to make roasted garlic for an easy way to make it in your oven and this tutorial on how to make roasted red peppers (way cheaper and much tastier than the jarred ones you get at the store!). And the splash of cream and freshly grated Parmesan take this sauce over the top and give it a richness and creaminess that is just so, so yummy. Serve roasted red pepper sauce over your favorite pasta. It’s wonderful with grilled sausages, Italian meatballs, or Parmesan chicken, or just have it for a wonderful meatless meal with a little extra fresh Parmesan grated over the top.
This rich and creamy roasted red pepper sauce is loaded with amazing flavors from red peppers, buttery roasted garlic cloves, Parmesan cheese and fresh basil.
- 4-5 large red peppers, quartered with stems and seeds removed
- 2 heads garlic, roasted
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 medium onion, diced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, sliced into thin strips
- 16 ounces fresh fettuccine, cooked according to package directions.
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Preheat the oven to broil on high. Roast the peppers, skin side up under the broiler for 7-10 minutes or until skins are blackened all around. Remove from the oven and place peppers in a glass bowl and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let the peppers steam for 30 minutes, then remove the skins with your fingers (they should slip right off). Chop.
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Prepare the fettuccine according to package directions in salted water. Drain and toss with a little olive oil.
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Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat, then sauté the onions in the olive oil until soft. Add the roasted peppers and roasted garlic with the cloves removed from the papery skin, and stir to combine and heat through.
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Transfer the contents of the pan to a blender or food processor and puree.
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Melt the butter in the same pan. Pour the red pepper puree back into the pan with the butter and add the broth, cream, milk and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir to combine, then taste and adjust seasonings as needed.
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Remove pan from heat and stir in the Parmesan cheese. Add the cooked pasta and gently toss to coat.
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Sprinkle with a little additional Parmesan cheese and basil strips and serve immediately.
2 heads of garlic might seem like a lot, but roasting garlic really mellows the flavor and it won't be overpowering at all in this sauce. Here is a tutorial I wrote on how to make roasted garlic at home. If you don't want to roast the garlic heads, you could just mince up 4 garlic cloves and saute them in with the onions. Adapted from Yellow Bliss Road.
I'm Amy: former lawyer, now SAHM in the CA Bay Area. I love food, photography, books, travel, exercise, adoption and pie. Definitely pie. 
That looks delicious and so easy to make. It’s perfect for a quick week-night dinner when I don’t really fancy cooking. Thank you 🙂
What type of red peppers?
Just the large red bell peppers, not the hot small ones or anything like that.
That has to be my all-time favourite pasta dish! Do you actually roast red peppers from scratch every time you make this dish? I know the process isn’t labour intensive at all, but I find that red peppers are quite expensive in my neck of the woods. I usually refrain from buying peppers except seasonally when I can get them at a local farmers’ market for a dollar a piece. Whenever I make this dish, I use the roasted red peppers in a jar just to save some time and money. Now, where is this restaurant? Add your own sauce??? I really need to go there!
I do actually roast my red peppers whenever I make this dish. I tend to make it more during the fall when they are in season because I can get them much cheaper than other times of the year. Roasting them myself is one of my favorite parts! And seriously, Brick Oven is delicious! It’s in Utah.
I was in Utah this summer! We went hiking in Moab- it’s gorgeous! I wish they’d had that pizza place there though- yum! And this sauce sounds DELICIOUS!!!! I love homemade pasta sauces!
Oh yes, Moab is stunning! I wish I had spent more time down then when I was living in Utah for school!
This sauce looks so creamy and delicious! What a nice change from the usual tomato sauce. And by the way, I love your dishes.
Thanks, Amy! I only have one of these plates but I love it even though it has a chip on one side!
I love roasted red peppers so I can only imagine how flavorful this sauce must be. It would probably be great on a lot of things including rice. Okay, you have me wanting to make some of this now 🙂
Oh absolutely! It’s so natural to put it on pasta but it’s wonderful with meat too! I’ve never tried it on rice but now I want to!
Mind blown! Creamy red Bell Pepper sauce sounds outstanding!! Oh I can’t wait to try this!! I may add a bit of chicken breast to it too!
Roasted Red Pepper anything is my kryptonite! You’re right – roasting the peppers is slightly more time consuming, but so worth it! Love this recipe!
I’m sure every time you make the roasted red pepper sauce, it reminds you of good times when you were growing up. It is one of the things I love about cooking, how aromas can bring back a flood of memories.
I also make a roasted red pepper sauce to go with fish dishes. The roasting of the peppers gives such a great depth of flavor, it is worth the investment of time to achieve that I think. Nice post.
A few months back, I had the most incredible red pepper sauce at a New Orleans restaurant. Since then, I’ve tried here and there to recreate it without much success. Can’t wait to try this recipe as it looks absolutely delicious!
We’ve made a red pepper pasta sauce in our home for over a decade and I’m always looking for new versions to mix things up, because we love it, and this recipe looks fantastic!!
This Brick Oven place sounds heavenly !! Not sure why there aren’t many “pasta bars” around since EVERYONE loves pasta. I made a roasted red pepper sauce last summer and it was delicious. You are right, you just can’t get a fresh good tasting red pepper sauce from a jar, and yes the extra steps are totally worth it!!
You know, I”m not sure I’ve ever had a red pepper sauce! It looks so creamy, and the flavor must be so sweet… I have some roasted red peppers in my freezer, may have to try this!
Your pasta place sounds much better than the burger joint that was our local place when I was in college… I mean, they were good burgers, but…
Isn’t it amazing how a little restaurant can have such a big impact? My husband and I have a place like that – a little restaurant in DC we went to many times during both undergrad and grad school. I will spend the rest of my life trying to duplicate the mee goreng!
This is a sauce that my fussy pants toddler would just love. And since pasta is her favourite food ever, she will truly enjoy it. I do love roasted peppers myself, they bring such a lovely taste to any sauce. I”ll have to make it !
That restaurant experience and food sounds amazing. I love that you have been able to replicate. I love the smell of roasted red peppers during the process. This dish looks amazing. SO creamy!!
Fresh red peppers, buttery roasted garlic cloves, Parmesan cheese and fresh basil – there’s a list of some of my favorite ingredients so I can just imagine how delicious this is! I will definitely be soaking up some pasta in this scrumptious sauce!
This sauce is EVERYTHING – totally gorgeous color, and … cream, garlic, fresh basil… HELLO, LOVER! Can’t wait to try this, Amy!
I love pepper sauce and this looks very creamy and flavorful. I love to try with veggie ingredients:)
Oh for YUM! I’ve never made a red pepper sauce before, but all the ingredients you use make me really excited to try this! I’ve been looking for something different to use on pasta! This recipe will go into my dinner rotation!
Beautiful photography! I will be making this sauce recipe pretty soon!
Can this sauce be frozen?
Honestly, I haven’t tried freezing this sauce. I think it would be okay, but probably on the runny side. In my experience, sauces with cream in them don’t always freeze well, but it’s not like there is a ton of cream in this one so it might work. Next time I make it I will do a double batch and try freezing one to find out!