Pasta with Red Pepper Pink Sauce

So my friend Larrin introduced me to Aunt Suzie's in Park Slope (and if you're in Brooklyn and it's date night and you feel like reasonably-priced yumtastic Italian food, you should go).  They have this awesome red pepper dipping sauce that they serve with their bread and butter and it's like, the best thing ever that happened.  I ate there recently and it got me to thinking.  "Red peppers!" was what I thought.  And I kept thinking it, for a while.  And so a sauce of my own was born.

Ingredients:

-1 or 2 fresh red bell peppers

-a 16-ozcan of Hunt's tomato sauce*

-A pint of heavy cream**

-half an onion or one small onion

-some butter and some olive oil

-some fresh garlic (half a head of regular garlic is now my standby)

-black pepper, paprika

-pasta obviously (shells or rigatoni are good for this)

*I like Hunt's because they don't add anything; it's just pureed tomato, not random spices not of my choosing.  You could use something else if you want.  But I'd be a little sad.

**Dude, organic is so much better I can't even tell you.

OKAY SO!

Start your pasta.  Just make it how you make it or follow the directions on the box.  But don't leave it in forever and let it get all mushy, that would be Sad.  

Chop up your garlic rather finely.  Also, cut up your red pepper.  I like to cut into kindaskinny strips and then cut the strips in or thirds.  It gives you a nice size that's not unmanageable.  

Put some olive oil and some butter in your saucepan and put it on a lowish heat and put in your peppers and your garlic.  After the butter has melted sprinkle on a generous amount of paprika too.  The whole point of this sauce is to be Sweet Red Peppery.  Cover it.  Let it simmer.

While you're letting it simmer, chop up your onion.  Add it whenever you're ready.  Let it simmer a while more (don't let things stick to the bottom though, be mindful and have a spatula around).  Let your red peppers get a little bit soft before continuing.

Also, check your pasta while all this is happening!  The pasta can sit and wait for the sauce if it gets done first.  Don't let it get mushy!  I won't tell you again.

Add your cream, and then your tomato sauce. Also sprinkle on some black pepper (like half a teaspoon? Sure).  Turn heat up to medium and stir well and let it simmer.  At this point it's good to have the pot partially covered; like mostly covered but with a crack for steam to escape.  Keep an eye on it, you want it to simmer but not really boil and you'll probably have to turn the heat down fairly soon to accomplish that.  Also stir from time to time. 

You want to let your sauce simmer for a while (I say ten minutes should be good) so your flavors get all nice and mixy.  Then take it off the heat and pour it over your pasta and mix and serve.  

This is nice with fresh steamed broccoli.