Peanut Sesame Noodles

For those of you who like Thai food, this recipe is awesome. It's spicy, has a peanut flavor, and can be made in less than a half an hour. We enjoyed it tonight as a main course; it would also be good as a starter or side dish. It is pretty spicy though, so if you like milder food, you will want to cut back on the red pepper flakes.

The original recipe called for thin linguine to use as the noodles, but our grocery store has a decent selection of some ethnic foods, and so I'm able to get Thai rice noodles to use instead for a more authentic flavor.

This recipe can be found on p. 243 of the latest Gourmet cookbook.

Peanut Sesame Noodles
Serves 6 as a side dish; 4 as a main course
Time: 30 minutes

For dressing
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/3 cup warm water
2 T. chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 medium garlic clove, chopped
2 T. red wine vinegar
1 1/2 T. sesame oil
2 tsp. honey
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

For noodles
3/4 lb. dried thin linguine or spaghetti (Note: I used Thai rice noodles)
4 scallion, thinly sliced
1 red and 1 yellow bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into 1/8-inch wide strips
3 T. sesame seeds, toasted

Make the dressing: Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.
Make the noodles: Cook pasta in a 6-8 quart pot of boiling salted water until tender. Drain in a colander, then rinse well under cold water. Add pasta, scallions, bell peppers, and sesame seeds to dressing, tossing to combine. Serve immediately.

Enjoy! :)