Roasted Red Pepper "Cream" Pasta

I love creamy red sauces, but we all know they are in no way SKINNY. I was inspired to combine fat free yogurt and roasted red peppers to create this "creamy" pasta sauce when I saw that combination used in a dipping sauce for crab cakes. This is in fact creamy and flavorful, but you won't feel a smidge of guilt when you try Roased Red Pepper "Cream" Pasta. Don't worry about the long ingredient list-The veggies roast in the oven while you prep the sauce and the pasta. Easy as pie! (Wait, pie is not easy, but Roased Red Pepper "Cream" Pasta is!

Here's What You Need:
2 cups sliced red and yellow peppers (green works too!)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 chopped roma tomato
2 capfuls of extra virgin olive oil
2 links of flavored chicken sausage (sliced)
1/3 cup grated parmesan 2 handfuls of baby spinach
Whole wheat rigatoni (approx 1/2 of box)
6 oz of roasted red peppers (drained)
1 cup of plain ff yogurt
2 tsps of cornstarch
1 TBS of white wine
Salt and Pepper
Cajun seasoning*

Here's What You Do:Preheat oven to 450. Toss the onions, tomatoes, peppers and sausages with the olive oil and sprinkle generously with Cajun seasoning. Toss well and roast for 15-20 minutes, turning once. In the meantime, add the roasted red peppers, yogurt, cornstarch and wine to the food processor and blend until smooth. Add to a sauce pan and simmer of medium low heat until warmed through-Do  not let it come to a boil. Add more cornstarch to thicken it if need be, but be sure to break up any pieces well with a wooden spoon. Cook the pasta according to the directions on the side of al dente. Drain and then toss with the roasted veggies, sauce, parmesan and spinach in a big pasta. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Kid Tip:I simply cut the peppers, spinach, and the sausages into little pieces and tossed with an extra helping of parmesan for my kids. My three year old exclaimed, "I love, love, love it!" I hope your kids do too!

*I loved Penzey's Cajun seasoning, but  you can really drive the flavor of this by choosing any spice you like. For example: Italian would change the flavors completely. Experiment! More Skinny Solutions