Roasted Vegetable Pasta
This pasta was inspired by both Chelsea and Lisa E. The only way to improve on this recipe is to make the pasta from scratch. If you want to do that but haven't done it before, I wrote out some instructions on how to make pasta here.First you will need to make a dressing/marinade for roasting the vegetables:
1 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbsp stone ground mustard
1 tbsp fresh finely chopped rosemary*
1 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic
freshly ground pepper to taste
*you can use 1 tsp of any dried herb you like or 1 tbsp of any fresh herb you like
You put all of these ingredients into a tall bowl or immersion blender container. Then you blend the crap out of it. It should become thick and smooth. If you don't have an immersion blender, you can use a regular blender or a food processor. Presto, you're done with your marinade.
Next, assemble all of your vegetables for grilling:
1 medium to large sized eggplant of the globe variety or 6 Japanese style eggplants
2 onions (red is especially good grilled)
2 good sized zucchinis
Warm your grill up. It should be on a very low setting or your vegetables will scorch without actually getting cooked enough. If you have a temperature gauge it should be around 300 degrees or 350 degrees at the most.
You should slice the globe eggplants in 1/2" rounds and immediately brush with the marinade on both sides. Next slice the onions in the same thickness in rounds and skewer them if you have any skewers for grilling. Brush the onions with the dressing. Now you need to cut your zucchini in slices length-wise. If they are on the small side you may want to simply cut them in half. If they are larger then cut them into thirds. Slather both sides with the dressing.
Lay all your vegetables out on your grill. Onions take the longest to get tender and it helps to brush them with more dressing a couple of times as you turn them.
After you've turned over all your vegetables on the grill is a great time to stoke up a big pot of salted pasta water. You can use any pasta you prefer with this recipe, I've used many, but I think penne pasta is the best for this application.
When you're pasta is cooked and drained, return it to the big pot and put a few tablespoons of your dressing on it and stir it around. Your grilled vegetables should be ready by now and when they've cooled off enough to not give you third degree burns, you can cut them all into 1" pieces. Add them to your pasta. Now is when you will cut up your oven roasted tomatoes and add them to the pot as well. A cup of 1" pieces is enough, but if you like going over the top with everything, you can put in as many roasted tomatoes as you like, that is one thing no government can control. Stir the pasta up and if it looks too dry, add more dressing.
When you serve it, crumblea lot a little bit of sharp feta or goat cheese on the top. Now that I have begun my local and seasonal eating challenge I won't be able to use feta unless I make it myself or splurge on the locally made feta which is good but a little pricey. This dish deserves the zing. By the way, the dressing above is the one I use when grilling all vegetables. I change the herbs in it according to whim. Rosemary is one of my favorites, but only if I have some fresh from the garden, I NEVER use dried rosemary. It's a waste of time. If I was the ruler of the universe I would outlaw the use of dried rosemary. You know, right after I imposed some world peace on all our sorry fighting asses.
If you think this pasta sounds good and you want to try it out, it's not too late. But don't hang out here too long, the season for all the ingredients besides the onion is almost over. Go little speed-nut...GO LIKE THE WIND!!!
Lay all your vegetables out on your grill. Onions take the longest to get tender and it helps to brush them with more dressing a couple of times as you turn them.
After you've turned over all your vegetables on the grill is a great time to stoke up a big pot of salted pasta water. You can use any pasta you prefer with this recipe, I've used many, but I think penne pasta is the best for this application.
When you're pasta is cooked and drained, return it to the big pot and put a few tablespoons of your dressing on it and stir it around. Your grilled vegetables should be ready by now and when they've cooled off enough to not give you third degree burns, you can cut them all into 1" pieces. Add them to your pasta. Now is when you will cut up your oven roasted tomatoes and add them to the pot as well. A cup of 1" pieces is enough, but if you like going over the top with everything, you can put in as many roasted tomatoes as you like, that is one thing no government can control. Stir the pasta up and if it looks too dry, add more dressing.
When you serve it, crumble
If you think this pasta sounds good and you want to try it out, it's not too late. But don't hang out here too long, the season for all the ingredients besides the onion is almost over. Go little speed-nut...GO LIKE THE WIND!!!
Labels: dressing, food, kitchen, pasta recipe, recipe, roasted vegetables