Roasted Red Pepper Baked Ziti

1. Roast red bell peppers in a 400 F oven for 30-40 minutes until skin is charred and wrinkly.

2. Remove peppers from oven, place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Let this sit until the peppers are cool enough to handle, about 30 minutes. Then remove the stem and seeds and peel off the skin. The steam from the hot peppers when you covered them with plastic wrap should make the skin come off fairly easily.

3. When roasted peppers are peeled and seeded, give them a rough chop and set aside.

4. Cook pasta in very salty water until 2 minutes less than the al dente time on your package instructions. Then drain and set aside.

5. While pasta cooks, heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.

6. Add garlic and onion to saucepan and sauté until onion is translucent, about 3 minutes. Add all of the chopped roasted red pepper pieces, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar and cook for 2 minutes until vinegar is bubbling and fragrant.

7. Add red wine to saucepan and cook for 3-4 minutes until wine has reached a simmer, then remove mixture from heat.

8. Transfer wine and red pepper mixture to a separate bowl and return the saucepan to the stove over medium-high heat. No need to clean out the pan—you’ll return the red pepper mixture to the same pan in a few minutes.

9. Melt butter in the saucepan then add flour. Whisk to form a roux and let it cook for 1-2 minutes.

10. Slowly add vegetable stock into the roux, whisking constantly to work out any lumps.

11. Add milk and whisk to combine. Bring to a simmer and cook, whisking occasionally, until mixture has thickened slightly, about 5 minutes. The sauce won’t thicken a whole lot, so don’t worry if it still looks a little thin.

12. Add cream cheese to sauce and whisk to combine. When cream cheese has melted, return red pepper mixture to the saucepan and stir to combine. Bring sauce back to a low simmer, then remove saucepan from heat.

13. Blend sauce with an immersion blender (you could also transfer sauce to a regular blender) until all chunks have been blended and you have a smooth sauce. Taste and season as necessary.

14. Add cooked ziti to sauce and toss to combine. Transfer pasta to a large baking dish (I used a large oval baker but a 9×13 should be fine as well) and top with shredded mozzarella. You can bake it immediately or save it in the fridge for another day.

15. When you’re ready to eat, bake ziti at 375 F for 20-25 minutes until cheese has melted and slightly browned. If you had the ziti in the fridge before baking, it may take a little longer to cook.

16. Top ziti with fresh chopped parsley and serve immediately.