I was doing a search the other day for a roasted ratatouille recipe when I came across this one. It’s from the Rachael Ray show. I’ve made ratatouille before, but I liked the way that she did it better than the way that I normally do. It was very simple to make, and tasted better than what I’ve made in the past. I’m not a big fan of eggplant, but my husband loves it, so I try to make it every so often. After having this version, I think I may just be making it a lot more often. She roasted some cherry tomatoes, but since I didn’t have any, I just used a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes instead.
By the way, I really liked this brand of whole-wheat pasta that I used for the first time with this recipe. It’s from the Bionaturae company. I decided to give it a try after seeing it was an America’s Test Kitchen favorite. If you’re looking for a really good 100% whole-wheat pasta, you should check out this one.
The ingredients:
Eggplant, zucchini, red bell pepper, red onion, garlic, can of fire roasted diced tomatoes, fusilli pasta (or other short cut pasta), crushed red pepper flakes, parmesan cheese (Parmigiano-Reggiano if you can get it), olive oil, fresh basil, salt and pepper.
You will need to begin by roasting the garlic. Cut the top of the head of garlic off to expose the cloves.
Place onto a large square of foil and drizzle some olive oil over the cloves.
Wrap the foil around the head of garlic.
Place onto the oven rack and roast until golden brown (between 40-45 minutes).
Fifteen minutes into the garlic roasting time, begin chopping up the veggies. As you chop, throw everything onto a large baking sheet.
Cut the ends off the zucchini, quarter them, and chop into small chunks.
Next, chop up a red bell pepper into small chunks.
Cut the ends off of the eggplant and remove the peel.
Chop the eggplant in half and cut into three even sections.
Turn it horizontal and cut into chunks.
Next, chop the red onion in half, remove the skin, and make inch wide vertical cuts.
Then, make inch wide cuts across it in the other direction.
Drizzle two tablespoons of olive oil over the veggies.
Add some ground black pepper and half a teaspoon of salt.
Toss to coat all of the veggies with the olive oil, salt and pepper.
Then, spread them back out into an even layer.
About 30 minutes into the roasting of the garlic, put the veggies into the oven and bake for about thirty minutes.
Ten minutes into the roasting of the veggies, you will need to put a large pot of water on the stove and bring it to a boil for the pasta. Cook the pasta until al dente, according to package directions.
When the garlic is done roasting, allow it cool, then squeeze it out into a large bowl.
Add in one (15 oz) can of fire roasted diced tomatoes.
Add 1/2 a cup of hot pasta water to the bowl and mash it all together.
Add in the roasted veggies.
Toss in the drained pasta.
Add 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes. If you don’t like spicy things, you can use less of it, or omit it all together.
Sprinkle in 1/2 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Stack 12 basil leaves on top of each other and roll it fairly tight lengthwise like a cigar.
Make thin slices across it.
Add the chopped basil to the pasta.
Toss to combine.
Serve warm (this was tasty at room temperature too). Have some extra parmesan cheese to pass around at the table.
Roasted Ratatouille Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp . plus 1/2 tsp. olive oil
- 1 head of garlic
- 1 medium eggplant , ends removed, peeled, chopped into small chunks
- 2 medium zucchini , ends removed, quartered, chopped into small chunks
- 1 red bell pepper , cored,seeded, chopped into small chunks
- 1 large red onion , chopped into small chunks
- 3 cups of fusilli pasta (or other short cut pasta)
- 2 tbsp . basil chiffonade
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese , plus more for serving at the table
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 450° F.
- Cut the top of the head of garlic off ( you want to chop off just enough to expose the cloves). Place in the center of a large sheet of foil and drizzle 1/2 tsp. olive oil over the cloves. Wrap the foil around the garlic, put onto a baking sheet, and place into the oven. Bake until golden brown, about 40-45 minutes.
- About 30 minutes into the roasting of the garlic, place the chopped veggies onto a large baking sheet, drizzle them with the remaining olive oil, and place into the oven
- Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a boil. Ten minutes within the veggies being done, add the pasta and cook until al dente (according to package directions). Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta water before draining.
- When the garlic has finished roasting, allow it cool enough to handle it, then squeeze out the roasted cloves into a large bowl. Add the diced tomatoes.
- Add the reserved pasta water to the bowl with the roasted garlic and mash everything together.
- Add the roasted veggies, drained pasta, parmesan cheese, and basil chiffonade to the bowl. Toss gently to combine.