Oil Free Italian Peperonata Sauce! We are pasta lovers along with their vast variety of tasty sauces, and this light and refreshing sauce is on repeat.
Healthy, satisfying, and utter delicious, this Oil Free Italian Peperonata Sauce recipe is a delightful Italian sauce filled with sweet bell peppers, rich tomatoes, zesty onions, and earthy garlic. Simmered to perfection, this flavorful garden-fresh sauce is perfect for pasta lovers everywhere. The whole family is sure to love it!
Whole Food Plant Based, Vegan, plant based, oil free, refined sugar free, no highly processed ingredients and gluten free.
Hi there, Ameera here!
We all devoured this pasta dish! It’s so delish! If you love sweet bell peppers and fresh tomatoes, then you will enjoy this dish. This Italian dish typically is made with a lot of olive oil, but we removed the olive oil (of course). This dish is low in fat and tastes absolutely amazing for a low-fat dish. You gotta give this one a try!
Tips for Success:
- Flavor Profile: The flavor profile of this recipe is a light, fresh tasting, bell pepper-flavored pasta sauce. The sauce itself is on the thinner side, but it has enough substance to adhere to the pasta. The sweet bell pepper flavor dominates the dish.
- Tomatoes: Use flavorful tomatoes. The best tomatoes are heirloom or plump garden-fresh tomatoes. If making this dish in the winter, it’s important to select a great tasting tomato like Campari. Campari tomatoes generally are well known for their consistent bright red color and fresh tomato flavor. We love using them in the winter months. Most winter tomatoes are bland and would not work well in this dish, that is why we suggest Campari tomatoes if making in the colder months when tomatoes are generally out of season.
- Bell Peppers: You can use any color combination of red, orange, and yellow bell peppers or all the same color (example: 3 red bell peppers). We do not recommend using green bell peppers.
- Pasta Water: The ‘pasta water’ is the water that the pasta is cooking in. When the pasta is almost done, remove about 1 cup of water. This recipe only calls for ¼ cup of pasta water; however, largely dependent upon how long you cook the peppers, you may find you need slightly more than ¼ cup or none at all.
- Fresh Herbs versus Dried Herbs: You can use either fresh herbs or dried herbs in this recipe. We used dried herbs in this recipe. We added fresh basil on top when serving.
- Low-Fat Dish Expectations: This dish was designed to be low in fat. Because it is low in fat, you are not going to experience that endorphin rush associated with eating high-fat foods when eating this dish. It is very tasty for what it is, and that is a low-fat dish. We just want to make sure that our Readers recognize this when contemplating making this recipe. If you wish to make it more indulgent, add the Vegan Parmesan Cheese on individual servings. The vegan parm totally takes it over the top.
- Baking Soda: Baking soda is often used as a neutralizer for dishes that contain a lot of acidity, typically from tomatoes. We use it in this dish to remove some of the tomato acidity (from the Campari tomatoes) without losing the tomatoey flavor. When you add it, the mixture may bubble up, then settle down as it neutralizes the acidity. The baking soda also helps speed up the cooking process of the red bell peppers.
Leftovers and Freezing:
Leftovers will generally keep for 4-5 days in the refrigerator. Store in a covered container. Reheating can be done on the stovetop, or in the microwave.
This sauce can be frozen.
Pantry Products Used:
- Tomatoes: We used Campari tomatoes. Please feel free to use your favorite great tasting, plump heirloom, or garden-fresh tomatoes.
- Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary restrictions.
Kitchen Products Used:
- Large ceramic/enamel lined skillet, Dutch oven, or similar large stock pot
- Stock pot to boil the pasta
We certainly hope you give this deliciousness a try.
If you try this refreshing sauce, we would love to know if you enjoy it as much as we do! Please leave us a review! Post a picture on Facebook or Instagram and tag us! We would love to hear from you.
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Oil Free Italian Peperonata Sauce
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 50-60 Minutes
- Total Time: 60 Minutes
- Yield: 4-5 Servings 1x
- Category: Sauce, Dinner
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Healthy, fresh, and utter delicious, this Oil Free Italian Peperonata Sauce recipe is a delightful Italian sauce perfect for pasta drenching.
Ingredients
Base Ingredients:
- 1 medium yellow onion, fine dice
- 1 red bell pepper, diced into ¾-inch squares
- 1 orange bell pepper, diced into ¾-inch squares
- 1 yellow bell pepper, diced into ¾-inch squares
- 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
- 1 lb. 8 oz. plump tomatoes, quartered *
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda *
- ¼ cup pasta water (+/-) *
Herb/Spice Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 2 teaspoons dried basil (+/-) *
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano (+/-) *
- ¼ to 1 teaspoon sea salt (+/-) *
- Pinch red pepper flakes
Other Ingredients:
- 16 oz. pasta (of choice) *
Optional Toppings:
- Fresh chopped basil
- Vegan Parmesan Cheese *
Instructions
- Cook pasta according to instructions, drain, shake well, set aside. Save 1 cup of pasta water to add to the sauce. You may only use ¼ cup of pasta water for this recipe; however, you may need a little extra, so we are reserving extra pasta water at this time.
- Place all the Herb/Spice Ingredients (except the red pepper flakes) into a small bowl, mix well. Set aside.
- In a large ceramic/enamel lined skillet, Dutch oven, or non-stick skillet, add the diced onions and bell peppers, sauté over medium-high heat for 7 to 9 minutes to soften.
- Add the finely minced garlic, sauté for 30 seconds, then add the quartered tomatoes and the Herb/Spice Mix, stir well to incorporate, then simmer for 5 minutes.
- Add the baking soda and stirring constantly for one minute, then simmer for 30 minutes (or longer) largely dependent upon how soft you enjoy the peppers. Stir occasionally.
- After 30 minutes, the tomatoes should have broken down and released their juices and pretty much created a nice sauce, evaluate the amount of sauce. Add ¼ cup of pasta water, if needed.
- Add the red pepper flakes at the end, stir, allow to simmer for several minutes.
- Serve over your favorite pasta with freshly chopped basil and/or Vegan Parmesan Cheese.
Notes
*Please reference the blog post for Tips for Success, Pantry Items Used, Storage and Freezing, and Kitchen Products Used.
*Sea Salt: Please adjust the sea salt based upon your family’s sea salt preferences and/or based upon dietary needs.
*Servings: 4 to 5
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