Roasted Ratatouille Pasta

Finding another variation of ratatouille pasta, I was intrigued since the first one I tried was incredible. This one differs from the last in that it calls for roasted rather than baked-until-softened vegetables and diced tomatoes instead of whole grape tomatoes, each difference offering a nice twist.

Roasted Ratatouille Pasta

adapted from Cooking Club of America

click to print

1 medium yellow bell pepper, cut into 8 wedges
1 medium zucchini, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 small eggplant, unpeeled, thinly sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
12 oz. farfalle or other short pasta (about 4 cups)
1 (14 1/2-oz.) can Italian seasoned diced tomatoes
1/4 c slivered fresh basil
1/4 c (1 oz.) grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 450°F. Spray 2 rimmed baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray.


Arrange bell pepper, zucchini, onion and eggplant in single layer on baking sheets.


Brush with oil; sprinkle with garlic, salt and pepper.


Bake 10 to 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender and golden brown with charred edges. Remove from oven; coarsely chop.

Mine took 24 minutes. And in my haste, I neglected to coarsely chop anything.

Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water according to package directions. Drain, leaving about 1/4 cup of the cooking water in pot. Return pasta to pot.


Add roasted vegetables, tomatoes and basil; toss to blend well.


Serve pasta sprinkled with cheese.

 

The flavors in this were good, but the vegetables didn't really get roasted even though I left them in the oven the entire 15 minutes plus nine more. Eating the dish was a little weird since the eggplant and onions were too big and stringy from my not having followed the directions and inadvertantly skipping the chopping of roast vegetables part. As it was I'd have pasta in one bite and the next bite was a pile of eggplant.

I would definitely do this again though, since it did taste good. It would depend on whether I wanted saucy tomatoes. I'll get tomatoes that don't have high fructose corn syrup added.

Cost:

• yellow bell pepper: $1.50
• zucchini: $0.51
• onion: $0.27
• eggplant: $0.99
• olive oil: $0.08
• garlic cloves: $0.40
• farfalle: $1
• Italian seasoned diced tomatoes: $0.88
• fresh basil: $3.59
• Parmesan cheese: $0.76

Total: $9.98 or about $2.50 for each of four servings.

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