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Calabrian-Style Tomato and Sweet Pepper Sauce with Pasta

Calabrian-Style Tomato and Sweet Pepper Sauce with Pasta

By Courtney HillApril 21, 2025

  • Makes
    4-6 servings
  • Cook Time
    35 minutes
  • Rating

This recipe was inspired by a stewy mélange of cherry tomatoes, garlic, sweet-spicy peppers and extra-virgin olive oil that was served with flatbread at Ristorante Barbieri in Calabria. To make a sauce for pasta, we combine mini sweet peppers (usually sold in a trio of colors) with an earthy cubanelle pepper and add heat with pepper flakes. Cherry or grape tomatoes, plus a couple tablespoons of tomato paste, form the sauce’s backbone. Short pasta with a twisty or curly shape—such as casarecce, gemelli, cavatappi or campanelle—is ideal for ensnaring bits of tomato and peppers.

Tip

Don’t use regular bell peppers. Mini sweet peppers are more delicate, so they soften more readily, and their skins are more tender. Also, don’t forget to save 1 cup of the pasta cooking water before draining the noodles. You will need some to lend body to the sauce.

Ingredients
  • 1

    pound casarecce, gemelli or cavatappi pasta (see headnote)

  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper

  • ¼

    cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more to serve

  • 2

    pints cherry or grape tomatoes

  • 8

    ounces sweet mini peppers in a mix of colors, stemmed and sliced into thin rounds

  • 1

    medium cubanelle pepper, stemmed, seeded and thinly sliced

  • 2

    medium garlic cloves, minced

  • 2

    tablespoons tomato paste

  • ½

    teaspoon red pepper flakes

  • ¼

    cup lightly packed fresh basil, torn

  • 2

    ounces pecorino Romano or ricotta salata, finely grated (1 cup)

Step 1

In a large pot, boil 4 quarts water. Add 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. Return the pasta to the pot; set aside off heat.

Step 2

In a 12-inch skillet over medium, heat the oil until shimmering. Add the tomatoes, sweet peppers, cubanelle pepper, garlic, tomato paste, pepper flakes, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Stir, then cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes burst and the peppers have softened, 8 to 10 minutes.

Step 3

Stir in ¼ cup reserved pasta water, scraping up the browned bits, then add to the pasta along with another ¼ cup reserved pasta water. Cook over medium, stirring, until the pasta is al dente, about 2 minutes. If needed, adjust the consistency with additional reserved pasta water. Off heat, taste and season with salt and black pepper. Serve drizzled with additional oil and sprinkled with the basil and cheese.