It’s been rainy and grey for the past 2 days now and I’m totally getting back into cooking and baking again. It feels good and familiar, like wearing a comfy sweater with holes in the cuffs to poke your thumbs through. I may not win any style points but it feels so right. Last night’s dinner is like that sweater. It ain’t pretty but it was comfort through and through.
baked pasta with roasted vegetables
My fridge is pretty packed with vegetables and I had to do something with them before things turned bad, so I pulled everything out onto the counter and decided that roasting them would be the best option. I turned on the radio to my favorite station and poured myself a bit of wine and got busy. Onions were peeled and chopped, green beans were snapped, cauliflower was broken into florets, cherry tomatoes were chopped in half, kale was roughly torn and into the pan went a lone yam. Everything was drizzled with soy sauce, a generous glug of balsamic vinegar and a pull of olive oil. Salt, pepper, rosemary, oregano, a few cloves of fresh garlic and even a chopped apple rounded out the mix. Into a high heated oven it went and I tossed things occasionally to keep the cooking even. When I felt things were almost ready, I put on a pot of water, set it to boil, salted the water and added in some whole wheat rigatoni. Another glass of wine was poured and the pasta drained.In a large oven proof pot I mixed the pasta and the roasted vegetables and tore up some slices of emmental cheese, threw in some leftover soft stinky cheese left over from a party last week, and stirred in a few heaping spoonfuls of ricotta. If I was so inclined I would have covered the whole mess with buttered crumbs, but I wasn’t….so back into the oven this meal went. A few minutes later, once all the cheese got all melty and creamy, it was out of the oven and into a couple of waiting bowls….Oh yeah, that’s what I’m talking about. Comfort through and through.
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I LOVE how you combined all those different vegetables – I mean, I would be constantly fretting that the tomatoes would get to soggy or the kale would get limp before the yam was ready etc,etc.
Clearly this kind of yumminess calls for an intrepid spirit – just do it – the ingredients are good, ergo, the dish will be fantastic. I’m going to try it this weekend. Thanks for the inspriation.
jenn in kansas
Looks warmly delicious. Welcome back from Europe, by the way!
I’m drooling over all the gooey cheese you’ve added to this dish. It has been ages since I’ve prepared a pasta dish. The man’s not a fan of pasta…but hey more for me to enjoy!
It has been gray and overcast for the past few days over here too. No major rainfall just some light drizzle. We are expecting more on Saturday when I trek over to the farmer’s market…I will keep my eyes peeled for those apples you mentioned – belle de boskoop!
This sounds so perfect for cold, rainy days, and it’s been so nasty out. May I ask where you buy your wholewheat rigatoni? (I’m in Vancouver too). I’ve never seen it in any of the stores I shop.
thanks anon! it’s just cooking and roasting vegetables is really pretty simple. it’s a definitely a winning combo no matter what vegetables you have on hand.
christina, this meal is perfect for cool weather!
nothing makes a dish better than gooey cheese, joanne!
jen, ww pasta isn’t my first choice, but i had a huge bag so i’m determined to get through it…and in a meal like this it really doesn’t make much difference since there are such strong flavours.
thanks fibre, this is such warm comfort fare!
nan, i bought my huge bag at costco…but i’ve seen smaller bags at other stores. even my tiny neighbourhood store in strathcona has a pretty decent selection of ww pasta.
That looks fantastic. How do you like whole wheat pasta? I tried it for the first time this week and it didn’t do much for me.
That’s what I love about winter – cooking hearty comfort food dishes like this. Love the combination of veggies!
Baked pasta has a special place in my heart, Kickpleat – and with vegetables… yummy!
patricia, it’s a perfect baked pasta too with so many different flavours and textures. baked pasta is one of my favorites too.
beth, i love the idea of blending it up with sour cream for a dip! yum.
This is pretty much exactly how I roast vegetables. Right down to the balsamic and the soy. Which is pretty weird.
And it is soooo yummy.
It’s the best in weather just like this, nice and cool for using the oven, with all the fresh fall produce coming in.
Sometimes I like throwing the reuslts into spaghetti sauce, sometimes I like blending it and adding sour cream to turn it into a dip for chips and fresh veggies and sometimes I just serve it as a side dish. Leftovers of this are the best, but they never seem to last very long.
lordy that looks delicious!
Feeling inspired by your recipe and title, both are lovely.
Great idea to use up all the vegetables in your fridge! I love roasted vegetables with baked pasta. Such a homey and comforting dish. I would’ve been scared to do something like this before (adding whatever was in the fridge) but now I think I could handle it! 😉
lordy, lordy, tania, it sure was!!
thank you, evidee!
eatme_delicious, you needn’t be afraid…it’s a no brainer!