Italian Roasted Vegetables in a Balsamic Sauce with Pasta
Aunt Emma’s recipe
Emma is my friend Ricky’s aunt, and her recipe for ITALIAN ROASTED VEGETABLES is the inspiration for this recipe with pasta. If you haven’t seen that post, I will give you some background buzz on her. She is part of the over 90 gang, and still driving herself to exercise classes!
Aunt Emma’s roasted vegetables are known and loved by generations of her family. And she is too♥.
A tweak to the original
Now, back to roasted vegetables. Emma’s vegetable side dish is a unique mix of peppers, tomatoes, onion and potato, roasted in a homemade balsamic vinegar dressing. It is clear to me why this recipe has been so popular with her family members for all these years. It is scrumptious.
I am a big fan of the original roasted vegetable recipe and love the flavor combination. One night while eating ITALIAN ROASTED VEGETABLES with dinner it occurred to me that the roasted tomatoes, peppers and onion with the delicious homemade balsamic sauce would be great with pasta.
But I didn’t like the idea of the potatoes in the original recipe being served with pasta. So I tried another ingredient. I swapped out the potatoes for summer squash. It came out fantastic!
And just like that a new recipe was born: Roasted vegetables with pasta! This is a great example of taking a flavor profile you like and using those flavors in something new.
With one change and an already scrumptious vegetable side dish became a fantastic meatless meal.
Just goes to show, you can’t rein a good recipe in.
Roasted vegetables with pasta is meatless!
This recipe is a very hearty meatless meal. This winning combination of vegetables roasted in a homemade balsamic sauce spooned over pasta will satisfy the heartiest of appetites.
I like serving my roasted vegetables with balsamic sauce over a cheese filled pasta. It adds some bulk to the meal and protein too. You can use any pasta you like, but I recommend you use a sturdy pasta like ziti, rotini or rigatoni. A small pasta is going to get lost in the chunks of vegetables.
A perfect show-off meatless meal
If you have guests coming for dinner this recipe can wow the crowd, especially those that appreciate meatless meals.
This colorful array of vegetables served on a serving platter with some cheese filled ravioli, stuffed shells or manicotti is pretty impressive. It’s a real feast for the eyes.
And the best part, it tastes as good as it looks. It’s unique and full of flavor. And no one needs to know how easy this meal is to make unless they insist on getting the recipe. You can’t go wrong with this one.
It‘s so easy
Chop and roast.
That’s all there is to it. After less than 10 minutes of preparation the oven takes over and finishes the meal for you.
Here’s what YOU WILL NEED:
| 2 small yellow summer squash |
| 1 medium sized yellow onion |
| 1 green bell pepper |
| 1 orange bell pepper or any color you are able to get, the orange is all for show, but you do need a second pepper regardless of the color |
| 3 fresh plum tomatoes |
| ¼ cup olive oil |
| 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar you can substitute with white vinegar |
| 2 teaspoons dried basil |
| 2 teaspoons dried oregano |
| 1 teaspoon salt |
| 1/2 teaspoon pepper |
| 1 pound of a sturdy pasta |
If you want some tips on how to cook cheese filled pasta, check out our post Cooking Cheese Filled Pasta.
About the ingredients
Sweet bell peppers
We use sweet bell peppers in this recipe. You need 2 bell peppers, but they can be any color. I like to mix the bright colors up. It gives this dish a little extra pizzazz. I figure, why not? Brightly colored sweet peppers always look so pretty on the shelves in the produce department. This recipe is a good way to show some of those colors off.
Vinegar
We usually make the dressing with balsamic vinegar, but white vinegar works great too.
I have made it with white vinegar and it is not surprising to me that the flavor of the vegetables is “brighter”. It sparks the true flavors of each of the vegetables, where the balsamic lends a rich, sweet flavor of it’s own to the vegetables.
It’s all up to you. Maybe you have another vinegar you really like. By all means, give it a try. As long as you like the flavor you can’t lose.
Summer squash or zucchini
If you are one of the many people that prefer zucchini to summer squash go right ahead and use that instead.
Zucchini works great in this recipe.
Pasta
We are suggesting you try a cheese filled pasta like ravioli or tortellini for this recipe. You can find cheese filled pastas in the fresh pasta section of the grocery store, usually near the produce department, or the frozen foods section. But it’s fine to use another pasta.
If you are using another pasta with this dish it would be a good idea to stay with a sturdy pasta like rigatoni, ziti or rotini. A small or thin pasta will get lost in the vegetables.
This is WHAT TO DO:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Wash and chop
Wash all your vegetables before you chop.
If you need convincing about taking the time to wash them, you might want to read our light hearted look at a serious topic in our post Wash Before You Eat. It’s something everyone should be doing.
Chop all the vegetables into bite sized pieces.
What a gorgeous display of color. Yellow summer squash, orange pepper, green pepper, plum tomatoes and onion.
After washing and chopping the vegetables, your work is just about done.
What to roast in
Put the chopped vegetables in a large heavy bottomed oven safe skillet or a large shallow wide baking dish. If you cook the vegetables in a smaller high sided baking dish with layers of vegetables piled up in the dish, they will steam/boil in the dressing, not roast. It is not at all the same flavor or texture.
The vegetables should only be one or two layers deep on the bottom of the cooking vessel. You are dry roasting them, even though you are adding an olive oil dressing.
Make the dressing
In a small bowl, or measuring cup, mix up a dressing of balsamic vinegar (or white vinegar), olive oil, basil, oregano, salt and pepper.
Emma’s roasted vegetable dressing starts with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Then add dried basil, dried oregano, salt and pepper then mix.
Add dressing to vegetables
Pour the dressing over the vegetables and toss until all the vegetables are covered.
The chopped vegetables have been tossed in the dressing.
The colors just keep showing off in this recipe. I love the stark backdrop of the black skillet. It makes the colors pop all the more.
Roast
Put the vegetables in your preheated 400 degree oven. Roast for 45 minutes. It may need longer. When the vegetables are tender, take the skillet/baking dish out of the oven.
A note about using a skillet in the oven
If you are using a skillet be very careful not to grab the handle when you take it out.
You probably won’t be inclined to grab a baking dish without protecting your hands, but it is natural to grab a skillet by the handle. The handle on a skillet is not generally hot when you are using it on the stovetop so you need to think twice before touching the handle.
The skillet has been in a 400 degree oven. It is hot! Protect your hands before grabbing the handle.
Let it sit
When your vegetables are tender enough for you, take them out.
A lot of the dressing along with juices from the vegetables will be on the bottom. And the vegetables on the top have been roasting so they are kind of dry. Gently mix the vegetables and dressing together, then let the vegetables sit for a few minutes. We want it to sit so the vegetables can soak up some of the rich balsamic sauce at the bottom of the pan.
Just out of the oven the vegetables have dried out from roasting. The dressing and the juices from the vegetables are at the bottom of the skillet.
Here are our roasted vegetable after we have gently mixed in the herbs, oil, balsamic and vegetable juices that were at the bottom of the skillet.
All that’s left to do is spoon it over your pasta.
Cooking your pasta
Cook your pasta according to package directions so it will be done near the time the vegetables are coming out of the oven.
Fresh or frozen cheese filled pasta such as ravioli is perfect for this dish. Fresh and frozen pasta cooks in only minutes, but it doesn’t do well sitting out after it is cooked. If you are using cheese filled pasta it is best to wait to cook the pasta until the vegetables are fully cooked.
Cheese filled pastas, like ravioli, are pretty delicate. It’s common to have them break apart during cooking. We have a post to give you some tips on helping to prevent that from happening. Cooking Cheese Filled Pasta
In CLAUDIA’S COOKING TIPS we have a post with some tips on cooking cheese filled pasta in a way that keeps the pasta from breaking open and leaking all your cheese into the pasta water. Check it out at Cooking Cheese Filled Pasta.
In this picture we are using round cheese filled ravioli which were purchased frozen.
Serve
Spoon the vegetables over or beside the pasta. Then spoon any excess juices over the pasta and serve.
This meatless meal of roasted vegetables and pasta is rich and filling.
Roasted Vegetables with Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 yellow summer squash small
- 1 green pepper
- 1 orange pepper any color works, it's all for show
- 3 plum tomatoes fresh
- 1 onion medium yellow onion
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar or white vinegar
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 pound cheese filled pasta or another sturdy pasta
Instructions
Prepare Ingredients
- Chop the summer squash, green and orange peppers, onion and plum tomatoes into bite sized pieces.
- Mix up the dressing of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, oregano, basil, salt and pepper
- Put the chopped vegetables in a large oven safe skillet or wide bottomed shallow baking dish so they are only one or two layers deep. Pour the dressing on and mix it up so that all the vegetables have been coated.
Cooking Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Put the skillet/baking dish with the vegetables and dressing into the preheated oven to roast for about 45 minutes. It may need more time. It's done when the vegetables are tender.
- When out of the oven, let it rest for at least 5 minutes to let the vegetables soak up the juices on the bottom.
- Cook the cheese pasta as directed on the label. When cooked and drained, spoon the vegetable mixture over the top and serve immediately.