Rigatoni with Tomato, Butternut and Red Pepper Puree
- Makes4-6 servings
- Cook Time40 minutes
Milk Street Facebook Community member James Adcock of Bellevue, Washington makes a pureed tomato pasta sauce that’s rich and velvety even without cream. He blends sautéed onion, canned whole tomatoes, steamed butternut squash and roasted and peeled red bell peppers until smooth, then simmers the sauce to bring the flavors together. Our version, perfect for a weeknight, cooks the squash with the tomatoes and uses store-bought roasted peppers. We think the sauce is a great match for tube-shaped, ridged pastas such as rigatoni, ziti rigati or penne rigate, but it also is good on cheese ravioli or tortellini.
Don’t bother chopping the roasted peppers since they’re going into the blender for pureeing. And don’t worry if the squash begins to fall apart as it cooks because it, too, will be blended.
Step 1
In a 12-inch skillet over medium-high, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the onion and ½ teaspoon salt, then cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned, 2 to 4 minutes.
Add the squash, tomatoes with juices, ½ cup water and ¼ teaspoon white pepper. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until a skewer inserted into the squash meets no resistance, about 20 minutes.
Step 2
Off heat, stir in the roasted peppers and let cool, uncovered, for about 5 minutes. Transfer the tomato-squash mixture to a blender. Blend until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes, scraping the blender as needed.
Step 3
In a large pot, bring 4 quarts water to a boil. Stir in the pasta and 1 tablespoon salt, then cook, stirring occasionally, until just shy of al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the cooking water, then drain and return the pasta to the pot.
Add the puree and ¼ cup reserved water, then cook over medium, stirring constantly and adding more reserved water as needed, until the pasta is al dente and the sauce clings to the noodles, 2 to 3 minutes.
Off heat, taste and season with salt and white pepper, then stir in the basil. Serve sprinkled with Parmesan.
