Whip up some cheesy pasta with banana peppers

Lightly grilled banana peppers perfectly compliment hearty pasta. Although they're red in colour, they're not hot. The sweetness of the peppers will cut through the full-bodied savoury sauce. Try it and enjoy!

This recipe takes 15 minutes to prepare, 17 to cook, and serves 4. Here's what you'll need:

• 175 g (6 oz) elbow macaroni or other pasta
• 1 small zucchini
• 4 large red banana peppers
• 175 g (3/4 cup) low-fat cream cheese or ricotta
• 30 g (2 tbsp) snipped fresh chives
• 50 g (1/4 cup) grated Parmesan
• 15 ml (1 tbsp) olive oil
• 5 g (1 tsp) paprika

Alternative ingredients

• You can use yellow or orange banana peppers instead of red ones. If you can't get banana peppers, use green, red, yellow, or orange peppers and cut them into four pieces.
• Try other pasta shapes instead of elbows, such as spirals or shells.
• Use 125 grams (1/2 cup) sharp cheddar, gruyère, or Monterey Jack cheese instead of Parmesan. Keep in mind that this will raise the fat content.
• To increase your vegetable intake, add a grated carrot with the zucchini in step 2 of the cooking instructions.
• You can reduce the pasta to 75 grams (three ounces) and add 50 grams (1/4 cup) frozen baby peas to the pot for the last five minutes of cooking. Return the water to a boil after adding the peas.
• Replace the cheese sauce with a white sauce made with low-fat (1%) milk if desired.

1. Preheat the broiler to high. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the pasta, return to a boil, and stir. Reduce the heat, partly cover the pot, and boil for 12 minutes or according to package directions, until the pasta is cooked.
2. Meanwhile, finely grate the zucchini and cut the peppers in half lengthwise, scraping out the seeds but leaving on the stems. Combine the cheese, grated zucchini, and chives. Reserve 15 grams (one tablespoon) of Parmesan, and stir the remainder into the mixture and set aside. Place the peppers on a broiler pan and broil, cut sides down, for three minutes or until the skins begin to blister. Turn over and broil for another three minutes, brush with oil, and broil for a final three minutes or until tender.
3. Drain the pasta, return it to the pot, and stir in the cheese and zucchini mixture. Spoon the pasta into the pepper shells and sprinkle with paprika and the reserved Parmesan. Place the peppers back under the broiler for five minutes to warm through and brown them on top.

Each serving contains the following:

• 281 Calories
• 11 g Fat  (5 g saturated fat)
• 29 g Carbohydrates (2 g fibre)
• 15 g Protein

Many people have tried bell peppers stuffed with things like rice, but using banana peppers and pasta makes this recipe unique. Give it a try if you want a tasty change from ordinary pasta dishes.