Roasted vegetable, tomato & pesto pasta

This oasted vegetable, tomato & pesto pasta is a flavour packed vegetarina dish that everyone will love. The oven does the heavy lifting with this recipe and use store-bought pesto for added convenience. Its hte perfect dish to accompany any grilled meat, chicken or fish if you wanted to add protein

I had to include this recipe on my blog for some of my friends. For a while and a long time ago- it was regarded as my ‘signature dish’ and I seemed to make it all the time. I hadn’t done it for years until recently when good mates were out from Canada and asked me to make it for supper at their house.

This is a four-phase recipe and involves combining the these elements.

It can be modified and parts left out as desired – or other things like bacon can be added (which is very very nice), or chilli if you like some heat or even tuna, or smoked mussels……..

1. Penne pasta – 1 x 500 gm packet (or less as required)

2. Selection of Vegetables to be roasted –eg courgette, red and yellow peppers, patty pans, red onions, aubergine etc..(for me the aubergine is essential)

Olive oil
Whole Garlic Cloves (optional) – to be added and roasted with the other veggies

vegetables to roast • Drizzle and Dip — drizzle over olive oil and roast

3. Pesto – Homemade or a good bought pesto sauce – about 4 – 6 tablespoons (as required and preferred)

4. Tomato Sauce:

About a Kg of fresh tomatoes or 2 x tins of Italian tomatoes
I x onion finely chopped
Fresh herbs if possible otherwise dry (like Basil / Oregano / mixed)
2 Tbsp olive oil
Crushed garlic
Dash of wine (I normally use white)
Big dash of cream
Capers (optional)
Salt & Pepper

How to make this roasted vegetable, tomato and pesto pasta:

Start with the Tomato sauce (as takes the longest)
Heat olive oil in a heavy-based pot / large frying pan
Fry chopped onions and garlic until soft
Add the tins of tomatoes (or if using fresh – skin and chop first)…. and the wine
Cook slowly until thickens (squashing from time to time)
Add Herbs, salt & pepper and keep over low heat (just simmer away)

Clean and dry veggies and cut up into big pieces (or as preferred)

Place in a large roasting pan and pour olive oil over to coat

Cook in a preheated oven (about 200 C) – until soft and starting to darken around the edges (about 30 minutes) – shake the pan a few times during the cooking process to turn the veggies

Bring a large pot of salty water to a boil and cook the penne until al dente – drain in colander
When the veggies come out of the oven and the Penne is cooked….
Stir the pesto sauce through the pasta
Add the roasted veggies
Add the fresh cream to the tomato sauce and stir.
Add the tomato sauce to the pasta and stir (you can put it back onto the heat if you need to keep it warm before serving)

Serve with parmesan cheese and crusty bread

Born up a tree!