Simple, Healthy, and Fantastic: Roasted Vegetable Pasta

 

As you probably know, we make a lot of different dishes as a result of running this blog. Sometimes we run out of inspiration from the cookbooks we have on hand. One solution is to buy new cookbooks (just purchased Ad Hoc at Home, so get ready to see some delicious stuff from there!), but the other, far cheaper solution, is to scour the inter webs for greatness.

One blog we keep coming back to is The Slow Roasted Italian. Donna provides daily updates of really delicious looking dishes, and she posts the photos of the process, so it makes it really easy to understand how to actually make the dish.

She has a ton of great recipes, so if you are ever in the need of some inspiration yourself it's worth perusing her recipe file. We've bookmarked a few for our future endeavors as well, including her recent southwestern meatballs, her light and healthy chicken with tomatoes and olives, the baked cavatappi with roasted red peppers, and of course her Italian style mac and cheese. But this week we made something really healthy yet tremendously delicious, her Roasted Vegetable Penne Pasta.

It's so simple, yet bursting with flavor, and since it's so healthy you can eat a lot of it without the need to feel guilty at all. Pop the veggies in, roast them, then toss them with pasta. It doesn't get any easier than that!

Making the Dish
Roasted Vegetable Penne Pasta adapted from The Slow Roasted Italian

What You'll Need
1/3 lb penne pasta
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
2 zucchini, cubed
2 eggplant, cubed
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup pecorino romano
2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp salt

Preheat your oven to 375. When the zucchini and eggplant are cubed, place them in a bowl and toss them with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the salt, and a tbsp of the black pepper. Toss everything together until it is nicely coated.

Lay out the zucchini, eggplant, and tomato on a baking sheet. Drizzle the remaining olive oil over the tomatoes, and add them to the baking sheet as well. Make sure that they are all in one even layer across the baking sheet, and then pop it in the oven.

Roast the veggies for about 15 - 20 minutes until they are really nice and soft. While they're roasting, cook the pasta in salted water until al dente. When it's completed, drain it and add it to a bowl.

Remove the veggies from the oven and add them to the bowl with the pasta. Add in the pecorino romano, and toss together until the pecorino has slightly melted and the veggies have been incorporated throughout the pasta. Some of the veggies will break apart, especially the tomatoes, providing a subtle coating for the pasta. That's what makes the dish really work.






Serve garnished with some extra pecorino if you desire, and enjoy!

Got a great blog we should know about? Tell us about them in the comments!

One year ago: Shrimp and Spinach Alfredo with Penne