Bucatoni with Peppers

I had noticed this recipe in Serving Up the Harvest long before it was traveling home with me. It seemed so simple and so easy. It also called for fresh linguine. At the time that was no problem. The fresh linguine wasn't a problem until yesterday. When I was stumbling around the Trader Joe's after my fabulous eye doctor dilated my pupils. Seriously, if you live in the West side of Cleveland, you should visit my eye doctor, Dr. Kaye at Skyvision Centers. He's great. But he dilated my pupils and I was fairly blind. Wandering around Trader Joe's.

Somehow in my groping around and taking off and on my glasses trying to focus, I managed to spot some bucatini. Now the only reason I've heard of bucatini is because I watch Rachel Ray. Yes, she's insanely peppy. And the whole EVOO thing is pretty annoying. Especially because she says "that's extra virgin olive oil" after she says it EVERY SINGLE TIME. Why bother to say EVOO then? But bucatini is pretty tasty. It's like elbow macaroni, but really really long. I think kids would really like it.

So really the fresh linguine wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't spotted the bucatini and been eager to try it. I'm glad I did. I'm glad I tried this recipe. I'm glad I bought the book. How about that? This pasta is light and fresh tasting and yet filling. the sweetness of the peppers works well with the little morsels of prosciutto. It works really well as a terrific summer dinner.

Bucatini with Peppers

adapted from Serving Up the Harvest

1 onion, quartered

1 celery stalk, roughly chopped

1 carrot, roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves

3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (or EVOO)

1/2 cup finely diced prosciutto

6 red, green, yellow, or purple bell peppers, cut into thin strips

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

salt and freshly ground pepper

1 pound bucatini

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Combine the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion mixture and saute until fragrant and softened, about 3 minutes. Add the prosciutto and saute for 5 minutes.

Stir in bell peppers, cover and cook for 10 minutes, until the peppers are soft. Stir in the basil and season generously with salt and pepper.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of the cooking water.

Add the pasta to the bell pepper sauce. Toss and add the reserved cooking water as needed to make the pasta moist.

Transfer the pasta and sauce to a serving dish and pass with cheese.