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Baked Rigatoni with Roasted Summer Vegetables

Baked Rigatoni with Roasted Summer Vegetables
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5 from 3 reviews

Baked Rigatoni with Roasted Summer Vegetables is a great way to use up the abundance of late-summer produce from your garden. Picky vegetable-eater approved too!

Ingredients

Scale

Tomato sauce (see our homemade recipe here or use two 24-ounce jars of your favorite sauce)

1 large eggplant, skin left on and ends trimmed off

1 medium to large zucchini, ends trimmed

1 large sweet onion, peeled

1 large red bell pepper, stemmed and seeded

1 8-ounce package white button mushrooms

2 large garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

12 ounces Mezzi Rigatoni (or your favorite shaped pasta such as regular Rigatoni or Ziti)

1/4 cup fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped

1 pound fresh mozzarella (shred one cup and cube the rest)

1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

10 leaves fresh basil, cut into strips/chiffonade (stack leaves, roll like a cigar and slice from one end to the other)

Instructions

  1. If using a homemade tomato sauce, prepare that first. If using jarred, heat in a pot and keep hot for assembling the dish.
  2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F,
  3. Line two sheet trays with foil.
  4. Cut the eggplant, zucchini, onion and bell pepper into large chunks, 1-2 inches in size. Place into a large bowl.
  5. Clean and cut the mushrooms in half or quartered depending on the size and add to the bowl.
  6. Add the chopped garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and toss to coat then divide evenly between the two prepared pans.
  7. Roast for 15 minutes, toss the vegetables, turn and rotate the pans and bake for 15 minutes more. Remove from oven once roasted and reduce the oven to 350 degrees F.
  8. While the vegetables are roasting, time the pasta so that it is done just as the vegetables come out of the oven. The pasta should still be a bit chewy; it will bake longer in the oven.
  9. Save two cups of the pasta water and return the drained pasta to the pot along with the chopped parsley and three cups of the hot tomato sauce and the two cups of the hot pasta water then stir and heat to hot. Keep the burner on low until you are ready to assemble.
  10. Spray the sides of a 9x13x3-inch casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.
  11. In a small bowl, toss the one cup of shredded mozzarella with the cup of grated Parmesan cheese and set aside.
  12. Pour two cups of hot tomato sauce on the bottom of the prepared baking dish.
  13. Spread one-third of the hot pasta mixture over the sauce and top with half of the hot roasted vegetables and half of the cubed mozzarella cheese.
  14. Top that with another third of the hot pasta mixture, the rest of the hot vegetables and the rest of the cubed mozzarella cheese.
  15. Finish with the remaining hot pasta mixture and the remaining hot tomato sauce. Then sprinkle on the shredded mozzarella and grated Parmesan.
  16. Bake for 30 minutes then place under the broiler to brown the top.
  17. Let rest ten minutes, sprinkle on the basil and serve.

Find it online: https://www.afamilyfeast.com/baked-rigatoni-with-roasted-summer-vegetables/