In the fall when red bell peppers are plentiful and cheap, I buy a lot of them. Many of them get roasted and peeled, then wrapped individually for the freezer. Throughout the winter I add them to pizzas, sandwiches, pasta dishes, and in salads. But sometimes I use some of the freshly roasted bell peppers to roasted onion to make this rich and tasty Roasted Bell Pepper and Onion dipping sauce. Serve this sauce as a dip with cheese tortellini for a fun and delicious appetizer or toss it with the tortellini for dinner.
If you want a spicy appetizer, then add a few chile flakes or substitute the roasted sweet bells with roasted New Mexico red chile. The roasted flesh of New Mexico red chile looks like roasted red bell peppers, but the flavor is quite different and if you use a medium spiced chile, then you get a medium spiced dip.
Roasted Bell Pepper and Onion Dip with Tortellini
If serving as an appetizer, allow time for the dip to chill.
*See Kitchen Notes for more information, substitutions and applicable links.
- 2 large red bell peppers*, (fresh or roasted)
- 2 medium onions, cut into 6 to 8 pieces lengthwise
- 1 ½ Tbsp. olive oil (garlic infused if you have it)
- ¼ tsp. salt
- 1 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 1 ½ tsp. white wine vinegar
- Salt to taste
- 2 cups uncooked tortellini
- 2 Tbsp. good quality olive oil
- Black pepper
- Salt
- Garlic powder
- Roast the bell peppers under a broiler or on the grill. Peel, remove seeds and veins, and coarsely chop.
- To roast the onion preheat oven to 375° F (190° C).
- Transfer the onion to an ovenproof dish and toss with 1 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil and a little salt.
- Roast the onion for 15 minutes, stir and roast another 10 minutes.
Transfer onion and bell pepper to a blender or food processor. Pulse to chop and almost puree’. Do not fully puree. (Check out the pictures.)
- Transfer to a bowl and stir in the tomato paste and vinegar.
- Taste. Add more salt if needed.
- At this point you can refrigerate until about an hour before serving. Serve cold or at room temperature.
- Cook tortellini in a pot of boiling water until al dente. Be careful not overcooked. Better undercooked than overcooked for this dish.
- Drain and transfer to a large bowl.
Drizzle with good quality olive oil, add a generous amount of black pepper, a little salt and some garlic powder. Toss.
As an appetizer – transfer the dip to a small bowl and, in a larger bowl, surround with the tortellini (as shown in first picture).
As a meal – Toss the tortellini with the pureed peppers and onion. Add some chopped parsley is desired.
Roasted peppers – Any color of ripe, sweet bell peppers can be used. Do not used unripe, green peppers. For a spicy version, add a couple of roasted New Mexico red chile peppers.
The vinegar is to add a little bit of acid. If you don’t have white wine vinegar, use rice vinegar, or pickling vinegar from a jar of capers or olives.
Olive oil – I used garlic infused olive oil on the onion, but I’m sure that comes as no surprise. A good quality olive oil should be used for the tortellini.
Tortellini – Tortellini with any filling can be used: cheese, spinach, mushroom or even chicken or lobster.
Appetizer or entree’?
- As an appetizer, the pepper-onion dip should be cold or at room temperature and the tortellini hot. Provide your guests with small forks to dip the tortellini in the pepper-onion dip or forks and saucers to transfer some of the tortellini and dip to the saucer.
- As an entree’, both should be hot. Toss the heated pasta and sauce with a fresh herb such as parsley, chives, and/or basil. If you don’t have tortellini another pasta such as linguine and farfalle (bow-tie) work great.
Tortellini with Roasted Bell Pepper and Onion makes a fun and fabulous party dip. Here are a few more fun and unique party appetizers your guests will enjoy:
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What a great recipe!
I’ve just eaten, but seeing these photo and I’m starting to be hungry again(!)
I think my other half (=husband) would looooooooooove this
Yum, that’s a nice change from using the usual sauces or oil with garlic. Too bad my husband has a thing against bell peppers….maybe I’ll make this for myself and a guest one day. Thanks for linking up !
Loved it! This will be a regular at our house. Covered the grill with peppers; peeled and put the rest in the freezer. I had never thought of freezing them before–thanks for that idea. Anyway we had the pepper relish (?) on ravioli first and with grilled bratwurst the next day. I want to try it as a base for bruchetta and now that I have all those frozen roasted and peeled peppers it will be a snap!
You’re going to love having those peppers in the freezer come the winter! Thanks for the wonderful feedback!!!! Hope you’re having a marvelous week!
This looks really good. I think that it is a great idea to freeze in season vegetables so you can make sure to always have them on hand. Thanks for sharing at Showcase Your Talent Thursday. I can’t wait to see what you have to share at the link party next week!
This looks amazing! Thanks so much for sharing at Mix it up Monday 🙂
Oh, these roasted bell peppers must have this wonderful smoky aroma. I would use it as appetizers with that delicious roasted peppers as a dip. Nice post, my friend! Thanks, MJ!
~ ray ~
What a delicious idea – I like it both as a appetizer and as a main course! I love red peppers and they are so good for you too. I’ve pinned this 🙂
You know…..they are only 77 cents a piece right now in the store. I ought to do the same. I love red bells and I rarely see them that cheap, unless I get to a farmer’s market in the summer. Great idea. Your tortellini looks great.
Susan – I haven’t seen peppers at 77 cents a piece since the fall. Buy! 🙂
congrats on your award! I am guilty of serving, eating and then squirmming to find enough to take a pic. perfect for a dinner party!
We just love Roasted Red Peppers and this would be a great combination for the Tortellini, this is a great recipe! Thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday. Hope you have a great week end and come back soon!
Miz Helen
Great appetizer idea, never thought of serving tortellini like this.The sauce looks delicious too 🙂
This makes for a perfect app MJ! Thanks for sharing.
i had no idea peppers could be frozen! thankyou so much for that piece of info.. the pasta looks delecious!
Thanks everyone for your wonderful comments! I’m glad to read that you liked the freezing roasting bell pepper. When I have a lot to roast, I’ll roast them on the grill outside; otherwise, under the broiler. Both ways yield wonderful tasting peppers. They freeze very nicely. No change in a texture and the only taste change is if you leave them in the freezer too long – like more than 6 months. They do pick up the freeze taste after that long. Otherwise, it’s like you roasted them that day!
Hi!
Hadnt had tortellini in ages! Yours looks so yumm, I am drooling and I enjoyed your presentation. thanks a lots for sharing. looking forward to read more from u. =)
The tortellini and especially the sauce look fabulous! If one day I have a big freezer i will do the same with fresh seasonal peppers. (I love your square plate! It would suit perfectly well Japanese cuisine…)
I just have a side by side with a small freezer. The peppers take up so little of the space that I don’t think twice about freezing them. You can shove them just about anywhere there’s a gap. 🙂 Thanks for dropping by and for your wonderful comments!
Strange and interesting combination between tortellini (I’d love to try and make them from scratch, some day) and bell peppers! 🙂
What a great recipe!!!
I love how you serve it with peppers and onions … This must taste divine….
Yumm….
Love red pepper and of late have been seeing too many red pepper recipes..pesto, hummus and now this one is another one to go in my treasure!
Oh, I could have this any time of the day! The texture of the dip is perfect and pairs so well with the tortellini.
Tortellini is my favorite pasta. Never thought of using it as a dipper. The recipe sounds wonderful and I will definitely try it soon.
MJ, looks great! Good call on the white wine vinegar… As usual, your presentation is beautiful!
What a creative way of serving tortellini, MJ! The roasted pepper and onion sauce/dip sounds fabulously delish!
This looks awesome. And I love the idea of freezing roasted peppers!
I love those treasures I find buried in the back of my freezer! And I love red peppers – this is an extremely nice way to use them. I’ve been on a balsamic vinegar kick lately, so I might substitute balsamic vinegar for the white – add a bit of sweetness with the acid. Anyway, I can absolutely see serving this either as a starter or main course – very versatile recipe. Thanks.
Your blog is so informative. I am of course, bookmarking this page, for the recipe and all the other bits and pieces that I know will be helpful for me in the kitchen. Thanks!
So inspired! I love the idea of doing this for a light but satisfying appetizer. Hmm…I’m thinking maybe grilling the onions and peppers to give it all a wonderful fire roasted flavor. Either way, great post!
Love the grilled idea! In fact the roasted bells were grilled last fall and then frozen. I did roast the onion in the oven, but …great idea to do it on the grill!
Delicious! These look absolutely amazing…. could take a bite out of my screen right now! 😀
Hi MJ – I’ve never seen pasta as an appetizer before – what a great idea. The dip sounds amazing. Nothing beats the flavour of roasted pepper… all those delicious natural sugars… so delicious!
That dip will be perfect with tortilla chips too! Come to think of it, we could also deep fry the tortellini for a crispy(but not to healthy) treat! 😛
aahh!! I love the idea of deep frying the tortellini! The dip’s healthy so that counts! 🙂
Roasting and freezing bell peppers is a great idea! Your tortellini appetizer looks great too!
Fantastic combo and looks appetizing!
This looks and sounds delicious! I’m not a big tortellini fan, but I would love to try this! Freezing roasted red bell pepper is a great idea!
This is such a great idea MJ and your service is lovely. I could see this appetizer going over very well at a cocktail party – they’d be devoured in a flash! I bet shrimp and scallop would also be a nice pairing for your delightful dip… Roasted, peeled and wrapped individually in the freezer – got it. This is my plan for the fall.
I love roasted peppers and this is such a creative idea for an appetizer! Looks delicious!
Congrats on the award, you really deserve it! I loved this pasta dish. So comforting! You are an amazing cook!! Thinking of you…
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Thank you Purabi!!!! Same to you! I love your recipes!
This looks fantastic! I never thought about roasting and freezing peppers while they’re plentiful! Thanks for the terrific recipe AND the kitchen tip!
Perfect appetizer, I would eat this as a meal. So good!
MJ- I need to be better prepared like you. Making your own roasted bell peppers is such a smart idea (especially when they are cheap and plentiful). This is such a beautiful recipe. Have a great weekend! ~ Ramona
I like the tortellini with cheese inside. It’s delicious, and I can imagine these tortellini with the red bell pepper & onion sauce. Never thought of serving as an appetizer like this way. Good idea!
This definitely looks yummy MJ. What a prefect appetizer, I would end up eating it as a meal though. I am going to have to remember roasting and freezing the peppers this year, I never think to do that. Have a wonderful day, sweet lady.
I LOVE tortellini, this dish is calling to me!
This would certainly make a gorgeous appetizer! What a yummy dip!
This is a great recipe. It looks spicy and delicious, just the way I like it. I do have some tortellini left from a previous cooking session. I bought it to serve with a creme fraiche chicken curry that didn’t turn out so well. So, it has been standing there in the pantry for months now and I was wondering what to do with it. Thank you for this recipe, MJ. 🙂
Rathai – This one isn’t spicy because I used sweet red bells, but I’m sure a red chile pepper or two added to the mix would be awesome!
Don’t you just love finding hidden foods in your freezer!? I try to freezer/pantry dive at least once a month and get those babies cleaned out. It’s always fun coming up with new recipes in order to get it all used up. This recipe looks divine!
Tortellini is some of my favorite pasta, and I love the pairing with the roasted pepper and onion. Looks great MJ!