Roasted Vegetable Pasta

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This roasted vegetable pasta is tossed with lots of caramelized roasted veggies and a delicious balsamic garlic butter sauce. So simple and delicious!

This roasted veggie pasta was an instant hit in our house!

I mean, it’s hard to go wrong in our book with mixing a big pan of caramelized veggies with pasta. But we loved the simplicity of the butter-balsamic-garlic sauce here, which perfectly complemented the flavors of the roasted veggies without overpowering them. When tossed with a generous handful of salty freshly-grated Parm and lots of fresh basil, this dish was absolutely bursting with big, fresh, summertime flavors. We went back for seconds…and then thirds! Couldn’t get enough of this one. ♡

The veggie options here are totally flexible, so please feel free to use whatever sounds good (or is overflowing in your garden, if you happen to have a green thumb!). You could also add in an extra protein if you’d like (such as chicken, sausage, shrimp, etc). And while I love the warm roasted veggies here fresh out of the oven, we can vouch that this recipe tastes equally delicious served as more of a cold pasta salad, so be sure to enjoy those leftovers too.

Let’s make some veggie pasta!

Roasted Vegetable Pasta Ingredients

Here are a few quick notes about the ingredients you will need to make this roasted veggie pasta recipe:

• Veggies: I love a summertime mix of fresh zucchini, eggplant and red onion for this pasta. When evenly cut into bite-sized pieces and tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper, they roast and caramelize beautifully in the oven.
• Tomatoes: Cherry tomatoes add a delicious pop of juicy sweetness and a touch of acidity to the pasta. They don’t need to roast quite as long as the other veggies, so I recommend adding them in halfway through roasting.
• Pasta: I used mezze rigatoni for the batch shown here, but just about any shape of pasta will work for this recipe. If you are making this recipe gluten-free, just use your favorite brand of gf pasta.
• Butter: Salted butter forms a yummy, creamy base for the balsamic garlic sauce. If you only have unsalted butter on hand, no worries, just add in an extra 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt.
• Seasonings: A simple mix of pressed (or minced) fresh garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, and balsamic vinegar give this sauce a savory and slighly-sweet-and-spicy kick. Feel free to increase the amount of any of these ingredients if desired.
• Parmesan: We’ll mix a generous amount of freshly-grated Parmesan into the sauce to give it some extra umami, cheesy flavor. As always, be sure to buy a block of Parm and grate it by hand if you would like it to melt smoothly into the sauce.
• Basil: Finally, we’ll finish the pasta with a generous sprinkling of finely-chopped basil leaves, which add a delicious pop of herby fresh flavor to the dish.

Recipe Tips

Detailed recipe instructions are included in the recipe box at the bottom of this post. But here are a few extra tips to help make this recipe a success!

• Cut the vegetables evenly. Try to cut the eggplant, zucchini and red onion chunks into more or less equally-sized pieces so that they will cook evenly.
• Don’t overcrowd the veggies. Use a large baking sheet or two medium baking sheets so that you have enough room to spread the veggies out in a single layer. This will help them to cook evenly and get nice and browned and caramelized (instead of steamed).
• Grate the Parmesan by hand. If possible, purchase a block of Parmesan and grate the cheese by hand so that it will melt smoothly into the pasta sauce.
• Toss the pasta gently. The roasted veggies will be fairly soft and fragile, so I recommend just giving them a brief and gentle toss to mix with the pasta so that they don’t fall apart.
• Season to taste. Don’t forget to season the pasta water, and give the finished pasta a final taste test before serving to see if it needs any extra salt, pepper, balsamic or fresh basil.

Recipe Variations

Here are a few more variations that you are welcome to try with this vegetable pasta:

• Add a protein. Add a cooked protein of your choice, such as Italian sausage, chicken, steak, shrimp, salmon or scallops.
• Add nuts. Add toasted pine nuts or chopped walnuts.
• Add different herbs. Add more fresh herbs to the sauce, such as chopped fresh rosemary, thyme or sage.
• Use different veggies or greens. Add different veggies to roast, such as asparagus, bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, mushrooms, or yellow squash.
• Make it gluten-free and/or vegan. Use your favorite gf pasta to make this recipe gluten-free. Use olive oil (in place of butter) and omit the Parmesan (or use dairy-free Parmesan or a sprinkling of nutritional yeast) to make this recipe vegan.

Favorite Vegetarian Pasta Recipes

Looking for more yummy veggie-forward pasta recipes to try? Here are a few of our favorites:

• Lemony Broccoli Pesto Pasta
• Lentil Bolognese
• Creamy Garlic Mushroom Orzo
• Bruschetta Pasta
• One-Pot Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Pasta

Roasted Vegetable Pasta

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• Author: Ali

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Ingredients

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Roasted Vegetables:

• 2 medium zucchini (1 pound), cut into half moons
• 1 small eggplant (1 pound), diced into 1-inch cubes
• 1 small red onion, thickly sliced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• fine sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper
• 1 pound cherry or grape tomatoes

Garlic Balsamic Pasta:

• 1 pound pasta (I used mezze rigatoni)
• 4 tablespoons salted butter
• 5 large garlic cloves, pressed or minced
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 ounce freshly-grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
• 1/3 cup finely-chopped fresh basil, plus extra for serving

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Instructions

1. Prep the oven, baking sheet and pasta water. Heat the oven to 425°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Bring a large stockpot of generously-salted pasta water to boil.
2. Roast the vegetables. Combine the zucchini, eggplant and red onion in a large mixing bowl and drizzle with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Toss to combine, then arrange the vegetables in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet. Season generously with salt and pepper. Roast for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, toss the cherry tomatoes in the mixing bowl with the remaining oil and season with salt and pepper. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, gently scoot the veggies over slightly to make room for the tomatoes, then add the cherry tomatoes to the sheet. Roast for 15 more minutes.
3. Cook the pasta. Once you have returned the baking sheet to the oven with the cherry tomatoes, add the pasta to the water and cook until *just* al dente. Meanwhile…
4. Make the garlic brown butter balsamic sauce. Add the butter to a large nonstick sauté pan and heat over medium-high heat until it is completely melted and barely begins to foam. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes and sauté for 1 minute, stirring, while the butter continues to brown. Turn off the heat, add the balsamic vinegar, and stir to combine. Around this point, the pasta should be ready to go. Use a spider strainer to transfer the pasta directly to the butter sauce and toss until combined. Add the Parmesan and continue tossing, adding in a small scoop of the starchy pasta water if needed, until the cheese has melted and formed a glossy coating for the pasta.
5. Combine. Add all of the roasted veggies and basil to the pasta (you can either do this in the sauté pan, or pour out the pasta water and use the stockpot) and toss very gently until combined.
6. Serve. Serve immediately, garnished with extra basil, grated Parmesan and a few twists of black pepper.

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