ingredients:
1 pound rigatoni pasta
3 cups purchased garlic-flavored croutons (about 5 ounces)
1/4 cup slivered almonds (about 1 ounce), toasted
1 cup julienned roasted red bell peppers
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. drain pasta into a large bowl.
place the croutons and the almonds in a food processor. pulse until it becomes the texture of bread crumbs. add the crouton and almond mixture to the hot pasta. add the peppers and the olive oil. toss to combine and serve.
my suggestions:
really good olive oil is key. it's not just a fat/oil in this recipe; it's a key ingredient that greatly affects the taste of the dish.
i use generic seasoned croutons. i also mix up a bunch of the crouton/almond crumb mixture at once so that i'm not having to toast almonds & drag out the food processor every time i cook this dish.
i also use store-bought jarred roasted red peppers. i would imagine that you could find them in the pickle/relish section of the store, unless you have an 'authentic' italian section like at our kroger. (fancy, i know.)
i drain the pasta in a colander in the sink and then dump it back in the pot. fewer dirty dishes.
i find it easier to combine in this order: pasta, olive oil, crumbs, peppers. drizzling the oil over the pasta first gives the crumbs something to stick to.
one girl posted a comment under the recipe on the food network site and said that she used sundried tomatoes instead of red peppers. i'm intrigued, and i'm definitely going to try it next time.
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