Angel Hair Piemontese

All right, before I post the recipe, I have to make an admission. I didn't make the recipe as it was written. I got home from work, realized I had no walnuts to brown, no leeks, and no fresh basil. Essentially- no pesto sauce. So I cheated. I used the jar stuff.
It didn't ruin the recipe, I promise! In fact, it saved time! But here are the ingredients in case you're one of those goodie-two-shoes types who likes to follow directions.

Ingredients
1 box (16 ounces) BARILLA Angel Hair
2 cups (lightly packed) fresh Italian parsley
3/4 cup toasted walnuts
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
3 garlic cloves
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste
2 red bell peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
1 orange bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
2 leeks, thinly sliced crosswise 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
8 ounces Fontina cheese, cut into small cubes

COMBINE parsley, walnuts, thyme and garlic cloves in the bowl of a food processor and blend until finely chopped. With the machine running, gradually add 1/2 cup of oil, processing until well blended. Season the pesto with salt and pepper to taste.

HEAT the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat.

ADD the bell peppers, leeks, and the finely chopped garlic. Sauté until the bell peppers are crisp-tender, about 15 minutes.

BRING a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the angel hair pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring often to prevent the pasta from sticking together, about 4 minutes. Drain, reserving 2 cups of cooking liquid.

TOSS the pasta with the pesto, bell pepper mixture, and cheese in a large bowl to combine, adding enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten.

SEASON the pasta to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.

So aside from totally ignoring the parts about making the pesto, it came out pretty good. The only suggestion I'll make is to use some other kind of cheese. The fontina was great and melted easily. It tasted great- at first. But as I had more and more bites it developed a bad aftertaste. The cheese was too sharp. In similar recipes for piemontese style you use mozzarella instead. I think that may be a better choice.
Overall, a colorful dish, but I doubt I'll make it again, at least not like it's written.