Mediterranean Campanelle With Roasted Red Peppers & Almonds

12 oz campanelle, penne or some other short pasta
4 red or orange bell peppers, cut into quarters and seeds removed
3/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, quartered
1/2 cup coarsely chopped roasted almonds
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbs fresh thyme leaves
Kosher salt and black pepper

1) Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking water; drain the pasta and return it to the pot.
2) Meanwhile, heat broiler. Place the peppers on a baking sheet skin-side up and broil until blackened, 8 to 10 minutes. When the peppers are cool enough to handle, scrape away the blackened skins with a knife and discard. Cut the flesh into 1-inch pieces.
3) Add the peppers, olives, almonds, oil, thyme, 2 Tbs of the reserved cooking water, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper to the pasta and toss to combine (add more cooking water if the pasta seems dry).

Review: I bought a bag of six bell peppers at Costco (2 yellow, 2 orange, 2 red). They're smaller peppers than the grocery store, but 6 are still cheaper than 4 at the grocery store! I roasted them all. The flavor was absolutely amazing, especially combined with the olives and toasted almonds. Yum! And, I've roasted peppers on my own before and it was an absolute mess. For some reason, it was way easier this time. Maybe I'll be making my own more often and stop buying the jarred stuff!

Adapted from:

http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/mediterranean-campanelle-roasted-red-peppers