Antipasto Penne

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Have I mentioned that I love pasta?  Seriously, I could eat it every single night for the rest of my life and be quite content.  When I saw this recipe posted by Kendall @ Keeping Up With the Joneses I knew I wanted to try it.  The recipe is adapted from Cooking Light which you can find here.
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Ingredients:
- 10 oz. penne pasta
- 1/2 cup kalamata olives
- 7 oz. sun dried tomatoes
- 1 (6 oz.) jar marinated, quartered artichoke hearts
- 1/2 cup prepared pesto (I used store bought in a jar)
- 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
- bell peppers; one red, one yellow
- 1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese + more to top pasta
- handful fresh spinach (optional)
- salt & pepper to taste
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First, start a large pot of water for your pasta.
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Next, you'll need to roast your peppers.  Cut peppers in half lenghtwise; remove seeds.  Place peppers, skin side up, on foil lined broiler pan.
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Place in oven with the broiler set to high.  It should take around 12-15 minutes for the peppers to turn black.
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While your peppers are in the oven, chop kalamatas, artichoke hearts, and sun dried tomatoes.
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* {Note - if you purchaed sun dried tomoatoes in a bag like I did, and not in a jar, you will need to soak them in a pot of simmering water to soften before use}
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Your peppers should just about be done.

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When your peppers look like the photo above, they are finished.  Remove from oven and place in a Ziploc bag for 5 minutes. {I'm not exactly sure what this does, but I'm guessing that it helps to soften the skin}

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Add pasta to boiling water.

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Peel skin off of peppers and chop.  In a medium sized bowl, mix peppers, kalamatas, artichokes, sun dried tomatoes, pesto, and parmigiano reggiano.

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Toast the pine nuts on a cookie sheet in an oven heated to 350 degrees for 6 minutes.

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When pasta is finished cooking, drain and return to pot on the stove with a dash of olive oil.  I had fresh spiniach on hand so I added a handful to the pasta. As you stir, the spiniach will wilt down.  Add your artichoke, pepper, tomato, and olive mixture to the pasta along with the pine nuts and stir until all pasta is coated.  Serve and top with additional parmigiano reggiano.

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Enjoy!

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