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Roasted Vegetable Red Lentil Pasta - A Quick and Easy Nutritious Meal
This recipe is one of my favorite ways to use up veggies in the fridge and make dinner in 30 minutes. I took it one step further and made this meal even more nutritious by using Barilla® Red Lentil Rotini. Roasting the vegetables on a sheet pan at a high temp caramelizes them and brings out all of their flavors to create a simple and delicious pasta sauce. It's a great way to add more vegetables to your meals.
Legumes like lentils and chickpeas are a key part of the Mediterranean Diet. Combined with this simple vegetable-based sauce, Barilla® plant-based pasta makes a satisfying and nutritious dinner that is easy to make for busy families.
One Simple Ingredient
Barilla® Red Lentil pasta is made with "One Simple Ingredient": red lentil flour, making it great for nutritious meals. Barilla® Red Lentil pasta is packed with 23g of protein per 3.5oz serving and fiber, plus they are all certified gluten-free and non-GMO Project verified. They offer a delicious taste and it cooks perfectly "al dente" every time.
How to Make Roasted Vegetable Pasta
Step 1: Prep the Vegetables
Start with prepping the vegetables. The key here is to cut the vegetables into roughly the same size so they all cook at the same time. Aim for about 1-inch sized cubes for the eggplant, zucchini, and mushrooms. The onion and bell pepper are better diced so the onions caramelize and the skin if the red pepper is in small enough sizes to cook through and not be tough and chewy.
Step 2: Season the Vegetables
Once all of your sauce ingredients are prepped simply add them to a half sheet pan with the olive oil, herbs, and seasonings. Toss everything together with your hands to get the veggies evenly coated in the oil and seasonings.
Step 3: Roast the Vegetables
Roast the vegetables in a preheated 450˚F/230˚C oven. Roasting them at a high heat caramelizes the veggies and brings out all of their flavors.
Step 4: Cook the Pasta
While the vegetables roast, bring 4-6 quarts of water to boil in a pot. Once the water is boiling season it with 2 large pinches of salt. Cook the pasta in the salted boiling water according to the package instructions until it is al dente. Reserve some of the pasta water then drain the cooked pasta in a colander.
Step 5: Bring It All Together
Once the veggies and pasta are cooked, mix everything together. Use some of the pasta water sauce to scrape up the browned bits of veggies on the pan to help create the sauce. Remove and discard the bay leaves, thyme stems, and the skins of the garlic cloves. Serve right away with lots of grated parmesan cheese and fresh basil.
Roasted Vegetable Pasta Questions:
Can I use different vegetables?
Yes! Feel free to swap out any of the vegetables with what you like or have on hand at the moment. Just make sure to cut them into roughly the same size pieces so they cook evenly. The cherry tomatoes are the only vegetable (fruit) I would not omit because their juices help create the sauce. That said you can use any other type of tomatoes instead of cherry tomatoes, even canned tomatoes would work.
For more easy weeknight dinner ideas check out these recipes:
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Roasted Vegetable Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 cups chopped eggplant 1-inch pieces
- 2 cups chopped zucchini 1-inch pieces
- 2 cups chopped mushrooms 1-inch pieces
- 1 cup diced onion
- 1 cup diced red bell pepper
- 6 whole unpeeled garlic cloves
- 2 cups cherry tomatoes
- 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus more for serving
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme small bunch of sprigs
- ⅓ cup fresh basil leaves loosley packed, plus more for serving
- 1 box Barilla® Red Lentil Rotini
- Parmesan cheese for serving optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450˚F/230˚C.
- Add all of the ingredients aside from the pasta and garnishes to a sheet pan and toss everything together until the vegetables are evenly coated in the oil and seasonings.
- Roast the vegetables for about 20 minutes, turning them with a spatula halfway through cooking.
- Meanwhile, bring 4-6 quarts of water to boil in a pot. Once the water is boiling season it with 2 large pinches of salt.
- Cook the pasta in the salted boiling water according to the package instructions until it is al dente. Reserve some of the pasta water then drain the cooked pasta in a colander.
- Remove the vegetables from the oven and pick out the bay leaves and thyme stems. Squeeze out the roasted garlic cloves and discard the skins.
- Add some of the reserved pasta water to the pan. Stir with a wooden spoon, scraping the pan, to create the sauce.
- Add the cooked pasta to the pan then stir it into the sauce. Transfer everything to a serving bowl and serve with drizzled olive oil, grated parmesan cheese and fresh basil.
Video
Notes
- You can use any vegetables you'd like to create the sauce. The tomatoes are a key ingredient though because they release their juices to create the sauce.
- Leftover pasta will keep for up to 3 days covered and refrigerated. Reheat to serve.
Nutrition
This post was in collaboration with and sponsored by Barilla®. All content and opinions expressed here are my own. Read more about my sponsored post and affiliate policy here.
Lindsey says
This was so yummy and easy!
kaity says
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