Just a few days ago, Alejandra Owens of One Bite at a Time posted about how awesome Pappardelle pasta can be with a nice reduced wine sauce. I happen to agree. She also mentioned one of my favorite things in the world: Trader Joe’s Lemon Pepper Pappardelle. My wife knew about the pasta before I did, but she got me hooked. Anytime we go to TJ’s for a grocery run, we buy several bags.
Just a few weeks ago, Trader Joe’s opened a new store on the Upper West Side in NYC. Previously, I’d have to go way downtown for this pasta. Now, its close and I just purchased a few bags. Last night, with the fridge on low, I decided to make the pasta with a white wine sauce with shallots, peas and orange pepper. This is what we had left and it turned out great.
The sauce is simple, only requires wine, chicken stock, butter, lemon and shallots. I added the pepper and peas for more vegetables and to use them up. Here is what you do:
Ingredients:
Serves 2
1 package lemon pepper pasta (cooked according to directions)
~ 3/4 cup white wine
~ 3/4 cup chicken stock (ill be honest, I didn’t do any measuring, and trust me, you don’t either)
1 large shallot, minced
1/2 orange (or other color) pepper, diced
1/4 cup frozen peas
3 tablespoons butter
~ 2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
In a medium size sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add shallots and cook about 3-4 minutes. Add pepper and cook an additional 3-4 minutes. Add wine and stock and bring to a boil. Simmer until reduced by about half. The sauce will thicken. Add butter and lemon juice and then peas.
Add cooked pasta to sauce pan and mix. Serve with freshly grated cheese. Enjoy!!
But for the peppers, this is almost exactly what I did with the lemon pappardelle last time I made it. Great minds think alike!