Angel Hair Pasta With Peppers and Tomatoes
- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- 2garlic cloves, smashed to a paste
- 2tablespoons red-wine vinegar, or a bit less, to taste
- 3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for bread crumbs, if using
- Salt and pepper
- Red-pepper flakes, to taste
- 1cup finely diced sweet peppers (a mix of colors, if possible)
- 3 to 4cups halved cherry tomatoes, or larger tomatoes cut into 1-inch chunks
- 1pound angel hair pasta, capellini or spaghettini
- 2ounces ricotta salata or mild feta cheese, roughly crumbled (about ½ cup)
- ¼cup coarse toasted bread crumbs, for garnish (optional)
- 1small bunch basil, for garnish
Preparation
- Step 1
Put a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil.
- Step 2
In a low, wide salad bowl or pasta-serving bowl, combine garlic, red-wine vinegar and 3 tablespoons olive oil. Add a good pinch of salt, black pepper and red-pepper flakes.
- Step 3
Add sweet peppers and cherry tomatoes, season well with salt and toss to coat with dressing. (You may do this up to an hour before cooking the pasta.)
- Step 4
Salt the pasta water and cook the angel hair pasta until al dente, usually 4 to 5 minutes. Drain pasta in a colander.
- Step 5
Add cooked pasta to the bowl and toss well to coat, spooning over juices from bottom of bowl and bringing plenty of tomatoes and peppers to the surface.
- Step 6
Sprinkle with ricotta salata. If using bread crumbs, season with 1 teaspoon olive oil and a little salt, then sprinkle crumbs over surface.
- Step 7
Garnish with whole or torn basil leaves. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Ess
i think this dish is better if you flame-roast the peppers whole and then peel + seed them before cutting them up. The warm roasted peppers exude a lot of juices. which are silky and sweet (slightly char-flavor) and make a sort of sauce as they coat the pasta and blend with its starches. (After cutting up the roasted peppers, i usually toss them with a small splash of White Balsamic/Modena vinegar.) For me, this is a real improvement on the existing recipe.
Golem18
Well, Solopiano, seems to me TP is entitled to hate, intensely dislike or even despise peppers. The correction is uncalled for and linguistically pretentious. "Language police" are unwelcome in any setting and this is about food.
TP
Thanks for this. I have rogue cherry tomatoes that sprung up from last year's crop and was looking for something else to do with them. I am skipping the peppers because I hate them. But will serve with a side salad of bitter greens (dandelion mostly) with warm bacon vinaigrette. Kind of a weird BLT.
Ess
ps: The roasted-pepper modification that i recommend. below: With a few knife slits/hole poked in the whole peppers, they can be flame roasted under an ordinary broiler. And it's fine to let the skin get pretty blackened, as you peel it in my version of this recipe.
Stu
The ingredients list seems to imply that angel hair and capellini are the same. I just checked a box of each, same brand, that shows #12 for angel hair and #11 for capellini. The cooking times are slightly different, so don't mix them together in the same pot.
LIsa G
I give this extra flavor by heating a bit of olive oil and then pouring it over the seasoned tomatoes - it sizzles and intensifies the flavor, before adding the hot pasta.
Margaret
I’m with you. I hate raw peppers - of any color. But I find that a quick sauté makes them quite pleasant and I have learned to enjoy them that way. I also freeze them to use for added color and zip in winter. Freezing seems to get rid of that awful raw edge.
Linda
Your terminology for your tomato plants is interesting! We are calling ours "volunteer" tomato plants and are they ever producing in full force! In fact, the tomatoes seem to taste better and are producing more prolifically than those we actually planted last year. We have given boatloads (or so it seems) away to friends and family. This will be a great recipe to have on hand for the abundance of our sweet little volunteers!
lynn rogers
This is great! Made it exactly as written (used pinch of Aleppo pepper which is a “go to” in our house. Had ricotta di buffala salata which is a bit less salty than the regular. Had amazing coloful,varietal cherry/pear tomatoes. IF you follow the recipe exactly as D.Tanis writes it and macerate the tomatoes/peppers in the dressing it takes the raw edge off the peppers to great advantage. Added fresh mint/oregano, dressed it w/more olio on serving, and ate it at room temp. ABSOLUTELY DIVINE!!!
AHubby
If you ask me, DON'T use angel hair pasta. What a mess! It just refuses to combine.
Tom Welch
I went heavy on the garlic and red pepper flakes which gives this a little heat.
chris
Add Olives, Basil and mozzarellas cheese
Es
So simple and amazingly good. Served as a side to roasted salmon. Cut up a bunch of small peppers (from CostCo) and cherry tomatoes. Cooked 5 oz of squid ink pasta. Toasted Italian-style bread crumbs, added some grated Parmesan to that. Tossed it all together with a little more oil and a couple of TBSP pasta water and, much to my surprise, enjoyed a delicious pasta dish.
yes Ess
The outside of the pepper doesn’t matter. Peel it and you will enjoy yourself.
fn
Very good. I read the notes and agreed that the peppers would be best roasted and then added to the tomatoes and vinaigrette. Toss well in the hot pasta pot with a little pasta water. Don’t leave out the bread crumbs. Feta worked fine.
Becky
All I can say is “Yum”! Tasty and satisfying! And easy!
Left Coast Cook
So good! Pepper-infused oil coats the pasta, which is then complemented by the sweet of the tomatoes and salty of the ricotta salata. Be generous salting the pasta water. It's true the spaghettini doesn't combine that well - adding 1/4 to 1/2 cup pasta water really helps. Mix pasta and coated veggies in a giant mixing bowl then turn it all into the serving bowl, a mound of pasta with the goodies on top. Top with the cheese and basil. Very pretty too!
shore cook
I roasted the peppers and tomatoes with sliced red onion, olive oil, and herbs. Otherwise, followed the recipe. Loved the deeper flavor of the peppers that the roasting provided.
Midori
Use more cheese for additional sauce.
Kate
Do do do the bread crumbs. They add a lovely crunch. We used toasted panko.
D
Have made several times now. Great dinner. I add a bit more vinegar to help break down the veggies. Let it sit at least 30 minutes and add more oil later if it’s a bit too tart.
D
And I use mini penne instead of angel hair. Much better.
AHubby
If you ask me, DON'T use angel hair pasta. What a mess! It just refuses to combine.
Lois Fox
I really like this recipe as is. The peppers pretty much fade into the background but they add both a sweet and tart note—I used more than the recipe called for and I think next time I’ll be a little more experimental with varieties. The dressing is subtle and surprisingly delicious. I didn’t have ricotta salada or feta cheese but passed parmesan at the table. Next time I’ll use 12 ounces of angel hair pasta.
Melissa
If I were making this, I would probably take out my medium-sized grater and just grate the peppers rather than dice them.
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