Pasta with Roasted Vegetables

It seems all the pasta dishes are turning out extraordinarily delicious and everything else... is not.

The original recipe (probably from BBC Good Eats):

Pesto Penne with Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients

• 75g (3oz) penne pasta
• 1 red pepper, chopped into large strips
• 1 yellow pepper, chopped into large strips
• 1 red onion, peeled and quartered
• A handful of cherry tomatoes, whole
• 3-4 whole cloves of garlic
• 1 aubergine (eggplant) or 1 courgette(zucchini), or a mixture of both (optional), chopped into cubes
• Olive oil
• A handful of toasted pine nuts, optional (in oven for 5 minutes)
• Pesto

Preheat oven to 180°C/ 350°F/ Gas Mark 4

Place the chopped onions and the whole garlic in a roasting tin. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper

Cook in a preheated oven for 5 minutes

After five minutes add the peppers, tomatoes and (optional) courgettes or aubergines. Sprinkle with a little more olive oil, salt and pepper

Roast the vegetables for about 20 minutes or until cooked. Check half-way through. Be careful not to overcook – the vegetables should maintain some bite.

When the vegetables have been in the oven for 10 minutes, and about 10 minutes before they are ready, cook the pasta as per packet instructions: this should take about 7-10 minutes. If the pasta is cooked before the vegetables, simply leave it to one side – it doesn’t need to be hot for this dish

Finally, mix together the pasta, pesto, and roasted vegetables. To finish, try sprinkling with toasted pine nuts and some freshly grated parmesan

This is what I actually did:

Pesto Penne with Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients

• 500g penne pasta
• 1 red onion, peeled and quartered
• A carton of cherry tomatoes, whole
• One head of broccoli, chopped into small pieces
• 3-4 whole cloves of garlic
• 2 courgette(zucchini), sliced
• Olive oil
• A handful of toasted pine nuts, optional (in oven for 5 minutes)
• Pesto

Preheat oven to 180°C/ 350°F/ Gas Mark 4

Place the chopped onions and the whole garlic in a roasting tin. Drizzle with olive oil

Cook in a preheated oven for 5 minutes

After five minutes add the tomatoes, broccoli and courgettes. Sprinkle with a little more olive oil

Roast the vegetables for about 20 minutes or until cooked. Check half-way through. Be careful not to overcook – the vegetables should maintain some bite. Toast the pine nuts while the vegetables are cooking.

When the vegetables have been in the oven for 10 minutes, and about 10 minutes before they are ready, cook the pasta as per packet instructions: this should take about 7-10 minutes.

Finally, mix together the pasta, pine nuts, pesto and roasted vegetables. 

I meant to add the pesto, I really did. I just forgot until I was cleaning up.

Before roasting:

 The pine nuts, cooking:

After roasting:

All mixed together:

And one serving:

I seem to be having luck with pasta dishes - this was very delicious and it made 5-6 servings.

Broccoli: EUR 1.39 at Lidl
2 Zucchini: EUR 1.29 at Lidl
Red Onion: EUR 0.22 at Tesco
Carton of Cherry Tomatoes: EUR 1.89 at Lidl (approximate)
Pine Nuts, 1/4 of a bag at EUR 3.99/bag = 1.00 at Tesco
Fusilli: EUR 0.49 at Lidl
Olive Oil, 1/20 of a bottle at EUR 3.99/bottle: EUR 0.20 at Aldi
Garlic Cloves: 1/2 of a bulb at EUR 0.85 for 4 bulbs = EUR 0.11 at Lidl
Total Cost: EUR 6.59 for 5-6 servings or EUR 1.32/1.10 for one serving