What's Cooking at Sunrise: Pasta with Poblano Pepper Pesto

Denis D’Amico, Sunrise vice president for field sales and marketing, is a serious fan of Mexican food. He recommends this sauce as a way to give your next pasta dish a little extra zip.

He says, “This fusion recipe produces a ‘meatier,’ more heat-oriented sauce for your favorite pasta, whether used to accompany meat or chicken or as a stand-alone dish. It is wonderful with scallops or just by itself.”

INGREDIENTS

2–3 poblano peppers
½ to ¾ cup walnuts
½ cup pecorino cheese, grated
2–3 garlic cloves
¼ to ½ cup olive oil
½ to 1 cup chicken stock
2–3 Roma tomatoes
12 to 16 oz. (dry) pasta of your choice

PREPARATION

1. Blacken the poblano peppers on an open flame such as a gas stove or gas grill. The peppers should be totally blackened and soft and should be put in a plastic bag to “steam.” Allow blackened peppers to sit for about 15 minutes.

2. Next, clean off the blackened skin; pull out the stem and all seeds. Keep the flesh.

3. Dry-toast the walnuts in a stove-top skillet. Shake all the time so they do not burn. When you can smell the nuts toasting and they start to turn a little brown, take them off the heat and reserve.

4. Using the same dry skillet, take the 2 to 3 garlic cloves, leaving the skin/paper on them and toast them the same way as the nuts. You can let them sit a little longer without shaking constantly, but watch, as you want to “soften” the garlic but not burn the cloves. When they are softened, take from pan, peel, and reserve.

5. Wash Roma tomatoes. Clean them, remove the seeds, and leave just the outer flesh. Dice into small squares.

6. In a food processor, put the poblanos, cheese, garlic, ¼ cup of the chicken stock, and ½ cup of the olive oil. Reserve some cheese for garnish. Turn on food processor and pulse to combine all the ingredients.

7. Add extra olive oil and chicken stock to make a smooth sauce.

8. Add walnuts toward the end of the food processing to keep them somewhat chunky. Reserve a few whole walnuts for garnish.

9. Make sauce thin enough so that it does not thicken when cool.

10. Cook pasta per package directions. Drain and return to cooking pot.

11. Immediately toss sauce with pasta. Put pasta on each plate.

12. Finish pasta by dressing with cheese, some whole walnuts, and the diced tomatoes.