Penne pasta with Florina red peppers pesto

A delicious and easy to prepare recipe for a meatless meal to enjoy with family and friends. Simple ingredients blended and balanced nicely together for this red pesto made of the famous Florina peppers. A variety with a distinctive aroma and a very refreshing taste

Recipe of Dimitris Andreou
"Cook Book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper

Ingredients (for 4 people):
450-500gr. penne pasta (or a variety of your preference)

For the pesto:
10 Florina red peppers
100gr. blanched almonds
1 lemon, the juice and the zest
3/4 tea-cup of olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
3 tbsp of plain vinegar
100gr. of Greek Kefalotyri cheese
salt
pepper
flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Wash the peppers and pat dry. Lay them in a baking dish and bake for about 30 minutes until tender and turning them round so they get coloured on both sides.

While they are still warm put them in a plastic food bag and leave until they reach room temperature so to peel easily. Peel the peppers over a bowl and remove the seeds and the stem.

Transfer the peppers with their juice and the garlic into a blender and whiz until mashed. Gradually, while whizzing, add the olive oil, the vinegar, salt and pepper, the almonds, the zest and the juice of the lemon and finely the cheese. Beat the ingredients until you end up with a homogeneous mixture.

Boil the pasta according to your preference, drain well in a colander and transfer back to the pot. Add the pesto in and stir well to combine.

Serve immediately, sprinkling on top with black pepper and the parsley.