Roasted Vegetable Pasta with Basil and Ricotta

• servings: 6 servings
• total time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

2 Medium eggplant, cut into 1 inch cubes

2 Medium zucchini, cut into 1 inch cubes

1 pound Short pasta of choice (fusilli, rigatoni, penne, etc.)

1 pint Cherry tomatoes, halved

4 Cloves garlic, thinly sliced

1/2 teaspoon Red chili flakes

1/2 cup Grated Parmesan

1 cup Basil, torn

1 cup Fresh ricotta

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Toss eggplant and zucchini with a few glugs of olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and tumble onto 2-3 baking sheets. You want there to be enough room between veggies so they actually roast versus steam. Roast for 30-40 minutes tossing the vetegtables and rotating the sheet pans halfway through. The vegetables should be well brown on several sides. Cool for 10 minutes on sheet pans.

Meanwhile, make pasta and garlic oil. Bring a large pot of water to boil, salt well, add pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving 1 cup of salty/starchy pasta water. Heat ¼ cup olive oil in a small sauce pan over medium. Add sliced garlic and red pepper flakes and allow to sizzle for a few minutes (not burn!) so the oil is perfumed with the garlic and pepper.

Assemble the dish by tossing the cooked pasta first with the garlic oil, grated parmesan and a little pasta water to moisten. Taste and adjust seasoning with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Next add in the roasted vegetables, halved cherry tomatoes and almost all the torn basil. Transfer to a wide, shallow serving bowl and finish with large dollops of fresh ricotta and the rest of the basil. Enjoy!