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Cavatappi with White Beans and Golden Onions

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Photo by Romulo Yanes

Active time: 20 min Start to finish: 35 min

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Makes 6 main-course servings

Ingredients

3

tablespoons olive oil

2

medium onions, halved lengthwise and cut lengthwise into thin slices (2 1/2 cups)

1

large garlic clove, finely chopped

2

large red bell peppers, cut lengthwise into 1/8-inch-wide strips (4 cups)

2

teaspoons finely chopped fresh jalapeño chile, including seeds, or to taste

1

teaspoon salt

1

/4 teaspoon black pepper

3

/4 cup water

1

lb cavatappi (ridged corkscrew pasta) or rotini (corkscrew pasta)

1

(16- to 19-oz) can white beans such as Great Northern or cannellini, drained and rinsed

2

1

/2 cup finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Need to make a substitution?

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté onions, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 10 minutes. Add garlic and sauté, stirring, 1 minute, then transfer onions to a bowl.

    Step 2

    Add remaining tablespoon oil to skillet and sauté bell peppers, chile, salt, and pepper, stirring occasionally, until bell peppers are tender, about 8 minutes. Add onions and water and bring to a boil, scraping up brown bits from bottom of skillet, then remove from heat.

    Step 3

    While peppers are sautéing, cook pasta in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling salted water , stirring occasionally, until al dente. Reserve 3/4 cup cooking water, then drain pasta well in a colander and return to pot. Add onion mixture, reserved cooking water, beans, half of cheese, and half of parsley and toss well. Serve sprinkled with remaining cheese and parsley.