Sweet Pepper and Goat Cheese Pesto: Recipe

So all "flops" don't have to be. In fact, many food myths depict a chef who intended to make one thing and because of a missing ingredient or a lack of ingredients wound up making something else that, obviously, became an international sensation (i.e., Cesar Salad).

Yesterday I was playing around with ingredients and intended to make a pepper and goat cheese filling for homemade ravioli. I did all of the things correctly (taste-wise) except that I didn't have any ricotta cheese and the filling I created really needed something heavier to bind it all together. So I filled a few ravioli and boiled some water to test them before I went any further. The filling was just too loose to hold inside the wanton wrapper. Oh well. I saved it for today and voila - an instant "sauce" for pasta. Kids loved it and my husband finished several bowls.

Sweet Pepper and Goat Cheese Pesto
2 Tbsp. butter
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 Yellow peppers, peeled and sliced thin
2 Orange peppers, peeled and sliced thin
2 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped fine
8 oz. goat cheese
1 tsp. fresh basil, chopped
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

With a vegetable peeler, peel the skin off each pepper. Remove the stem, membranes, and seeds from each and slice thin into strips. In a large pan, melt the butter and saute garlic quickly over med-high heat. Do not burn. Add the peppers and saute over med-high heat for about 15-20 minutes or until very soft. Add rosemary and saute another 2 minutes.

In a Cuisinart, combine cooked peppers, both cheeses and the basil. Puree until smooth. Serve over hot pasta.