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This 30 minute Roasted Ratatouille Pasta is bursting with flavor. It's packed with summer vegetables—like zucchini, eggplant, and bell peppers—that get oven roasted to quickly coax out flavor while preserving color and texture. The jammy, garlicky tomato sauce hugs every curve of pasta. Yum. It's truly a celebration of summer's best!
For more vibrant summer pasta recipes, check out: Lemon Swiss Chard Pasta, Mediterranean Pesto Tortellini, and the best Mushroom Miso Pasta.
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Why you'll love this recipe
- Fast: This easy recipe is ready in just 30 minutes.
- Flavorful: While ratatouille can sometimes taste bland, this pasta is far from it! It uses ratatouille-inspired vegetables. But boosts the flavor with umami-rich ingredients like: tomato paste, sun-dried tomatoes, and cheese.
- Packed with Veggies: There are over 4 pounds (1.8 kg) of colorful fresh summer vegetables in this pasta dish. So it's healthy, comforting, and delicious.
- Smart Techniques: Charring the vegetables under the broiler adds flavor, while preserving some color and texture. And this method frees you up to make a quick sauce at the same time. Using a trio of tomatoes (paste, sun-dried, and fresh) creates a rich, umami-packed sauce that's ready when the noodles finish cooking. The result is layers of flavor that are surprisingly easy to pull off!
- Versatile: This pasta is delicious served hot. But it's also pretty good cold too! Serve this ratatouille pasta for dinner at home, lunch on-the-go, potlucks or picnics.
Ingredients (and substitutes)
This easy Roasted Ratatouille Pasta is made with simple pantry ingredients and fresh veggies. Here's what you need to make the recipe:
- Zucchini: Use green or yellow zucchini. Choose small or medium-sized zucchini for the best flavor. You can substitute another kind of summer squash.
- Tomatoes: Cherry or grape tomatoes work best. They're sweet, juicy, and can be cooked whole. You can use red tomatoes—or a rainbow blend for even more color!
- Tomato Paste: Double-concentrated tomato paste has better flavor. It's often packaged in a squeeze tube. But regular tomato paste works fine too.
- Sundried Tomatoes: Use sundried tomatoes in oil. You can start with whole or sliced—just make sure to mince them before adding them to the pot.
- Pasta: You can use pretty much any dried pasta noodle. I often use fusilli. But rigatoni, penne, farfalle (bow ties), spaghetti, linguine, or fettucini all work.
- Basil: Fresh basil really makes the summer flavors pop! I don't recommend leaving the basil out. Unfortunately dried basil isn't a great substitute. Unlike some herbs that dry quite well, dried basil lacks the flavor of fresh.
Find the recipe card below for the complete recipe, including all ingredients and instructions.
Looking for more zucchini recipes? Try Cheesy Savory Zucchini Muffins, Vegan Zucchini Muffins, Tomato Zucchini Pappardelle, or Zucchini Fritters.
How to make (step-by-step photos)
This ratatouille pasta with roasted vegetables is ready in 30 minutes! Here's how to make this quick and easy pasta recipe:
Find the recipe card below for the complete recipe, including all ingredients and instructions.
Tips
- Have your ingredients prepped: Wash, chop, and prep all ingredients before cooking. The sauce cooks quickly. With everything prepped, you can add ingredients at the right time and avoid burning the tomato paste or garlic.
- Watch heat on Dutch ovens: Cast iron retains heat well. So a Dutch oven gets hotter over time and won't cool down as quickly when adding ingredients. Keep an eye on the heat and lower it further—if needed—to prevent burning.
- Don't broil parchment paper: Parchment paper isn't usually rated for high-heat broiling. This recipe uses a bare (unlined) baking sheet to prevent burning.
- How to know where your oven's broiler is: In electric ovens, the broiler is typically at the top. In gas ovens, it's usually a drawer at the bottom (source). Check your oven’s manual if you're still unsure.
- If scaling up the recipe: Broil the vegetables in batches. A single batch fits a standard baking sheet (half-sheet pan). Overcrowding the pan with double the vegetables will cause uneven cooking.
Recipe FAQs
I often line my baking sheets with parchment to prevent sticking and to make clean-up easier. But parchment paper is not rated for extremely high-heat. Parchment will burn if broiled. So for this recipe, just scatter your vegetables on a bare (unlined) baking sheet.
If you forgot to keep some pasta water before draining the pasta, don't worry! Just substitute hot water instead. It's not as starchy as pasta water would be, but this sauce still works without. We tested it both ways.
Sun-dried tomatoes are usually available in two forms: dry-packed and oil-packed. Dry-packed sun-dried tomatoes will need to be re-hydrated in water before using. Whereas sun-dried tomatoes in oil can simply be drained and used.
This recipe uses sun-dried tomatoes in oil because it's faster and more convenient. And, there's extra flavor that comes from the residual oil on the sun-dried tomatoes(after draining).
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 3 to 4 days.
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📖 Recipe
Roasted Ratatouille Pasta
Ingredients
Roasted Vegetables
- 1 lb zucchini (about 4 cups)
- 1 lb eggplant (about 4 cups)
- 1 red bell pepper (or yellow/orange)
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
Pasta
- 1 lb dried fusilli pasta (or rotini, penne, rigatoni, spaghetti, etc.; Gluten-free if needed)
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 diced yellow onion
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste (see note 1)
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- ¼ cup minced sun-dried tomatoes (see note 2)
- 12 ounces cherry tomatoes (or grape tomatoes)
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt (more as needed)
- ½ cup chopped fresh basil
- ⅓ to ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese (see note 3)
Instructions
- Prep Vegetables: Position rack in upper-third of oven and set to broil (see note 4). Scatter 1 lb zucchini, 1 lb eggplant, 1 red bell pepper on a large bare baking sheet. (Don't line with parchment). Drizzle with 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil. Toss to coat. Sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt.
- Broil Vegetables: Broil vegetables on upper rack until brown around the edges and tender in the middle, 10 to 15 minutes, stirring at least twice. (Watch carefully, broil times vary significantly). Set aside.
- Cook Pasta: Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add 1 lb dried fusilli pasta and cook al dente, according to package directions. Reserve 1 cup pasta water before straining pasta.
- Make sauce: Meanwhile, in another large pot, warm 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat. Add 1 diced yellow onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown around the edges, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in 3 tablespoons tomato paste. Immediately reduce heat to medium-low. Add 3 cloves minced garlic, ¼ cup minced sun-dried tomatoes, 12 ounces cherry tomatoes, 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning, and 1 teaspoon fine sea salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until tomatoes are soft and bursting, about 5 minutes.
- Combine: Add drained pasta to the pot of sauce, along with ⅔ cup of the reserved pasta water (see note 5). Toss to coat. Add small increments of more pasta water, if needed, until noodles are coated in silky sauce.
- Finish: Scatter in roasted vegetables, ½ cup chopped fresh basil and ⅓ to ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese. Toss to mix. Taste and season with more salt, if needed (I often add another ¼ teaspoon). Serve hot, topped with more cheese.
Notes
- Tomato Paste: Use double-concentrated tomato paste if you can. Otherwise regular tomato paste works too. Tomato paste can easily burn in the bottom of the pot, so make sure you're keeping an eye on temperature and stirring frequently.
- Sun-Dried Tomatoes: Use sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil and drain before using. There's no need to remove all oil off the sun-dried tomatoes. Some residual oil helps flavor the sauce.
- Cheese: You can use Parmesan cheese or similar (such as Asiago or Pecorino Romano). For a vegan option, use a grated Parmesan cheese substitute.
- Broiler position: Electric ovens usually have the broiler element at the top. Positioning the rack in the upper-third allows the pan to be close enough (but not too close). Gas ovens usually have a broiler drawer at the bottom. In this case, you'd be putting the baking sheet of veggies in the drawer—not the upper-third of the main oven.
- Pasta water: If you forgot to reserve the pasta water before draining the water, all is not lost! Substitute hot or warm water instead. You may also need to add a bit more salt to compensate.
- Storage tips: Refrigerate for 3 to 4 days. Leftovers are best with a bit more salt and cheese, to taste.
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