Ratatouille-inspired grilled vegetable pasta — But so much better
One of my favorite parts of creating a new recipe is the element of surprise that happens when my first try turns out differently than expected. Sometimes, the alchemy of combining ingredients and turning them into reality yields something even better than I imagined — and it makes cooking an adventure that never goes away. old for me. Today’s noodle dish was born of such a happy coincidence — I set out to create the perfect ratatouille recipe, and in the process, I realized that for me, it lacked main energy of the course. So I started experimenting, and my ratatouille was born.
To me, this is the perfect recipe for late summer and in September for those weeknights that go awry with whatever your schedule includes. It makes best use of the late summer bounty (eggplantzucchini, bell pepper) is actually the best right before Fall burst on the scene in all her golden glory. And because those veggies are slowly cooked together to an almost stew-like consistency, this dish has a warmth I’m starting to crave this time of year, right along with warm socks. worship and pumpkin bread.
Traditional ratatouille ingredients
For the uninitiated, let’s start by pointing out what gives this grilled vegetable noodle dish its ratatouille feel (and no, it has nothing to do with rats.) Ratatouille is a summer vegetable stew. Origin is a French dish from Provence. It features the humble but delicious vegetables that often grow in late summer early fall gardens: zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, onions, garlic, and herbs.
In the traditional ratatouille, all the vegetables are cut into chunks and cooked with plenty of olive oil until they’re blended and slightly mushy. So when I set out on my quest to create the perfect ratatouille recipe, that’s where I started, serving it simply with crusty bread to soak up all the juice. It’s good, but for me, it’s missing something.
How to make grilled vegetable pasta ratatouille
What I really feel my ratatouille needs to make it not only good but coveted, is pasta. Specifically, chunky oil-shore cooked to perfection to seep all that juice into its crevices. So, after cooking all of my ratatouille vegetables, I simply toss them with the cooked pasta, add a little olive oil and lots of parmesan, and the end result is a pasta dish. Summer pipe is extremely simple but more than the sum of the parts. Each fork is the perfect ratio between vegetables and noodles – and the presentation is gorgeous enough for a dinner party.
What makes this vegetable toast so easy?
I’m not exaggerating when I say this dinner requires only about 15 minutes of hands-on cooking. In addition to the pot you use to boil the pasta, all the vegetables, herbs, and spices for this dish are baked together on a plate. single pan. You’ll want to reduce the baking time a bit as reflected in the recipe, as eggplant, zucchini, and garlic take a little longer to cook than tomatoes, peppers, and onions. By letting everything cook to that ratatouille-like consistency, the vegetables create a sauce that lightly coats each noodle and makes the final dish satisfying.
Here I also use high-quality canned tomatoes, which are as good as the fresh tomatoes in this dish. I don’t know about you, but I really hate cutting fresh tomatoes into slices, so I’m always looking for opportunities to take a canned tomato shortcut. I like San Marzano tomatoes if you can find them, but a good quality canned fire-roasted tomato always works.
Tips for making it in advance and storing leftovers
One of the great things about ratatouille is that it tastes even better the next day — and the same is true of this veggie baked pasta dish. Just wrap it in an airtight container in the fridge, then warm it up gently on the stove or at half power in the microwave and mix in a little extra olive oil to keep it from drying out. The perfect lunch left over is served.
This is also a beautiful dish, as it is only served well at room temperature while it is still hot from the oven. If you’re having friends over for dinner, transfer this veggie toasted pasta to your largest serving bowl, place it in the center of the table, then embrace that Provence-style comfort and let it out. while you sip on pink and mix about a pre-dinner snack or two. After all, summer is not over yet.
Scroll down to find the recipe for this Ratatouille Grilled Vegetable Pasta, then leave a rating and review so we can see how it goes and tag me in. Instagram if you try.