CHEATS ROAST VEG PASTA | simple & speedy

Stupidly simple and ready in 30 minutes – yes please! This has become a staple in our house of late, especially with the last of the late season cherry tomatoes growing in our garden. It is a perfect weeknight meal that travels well and becomes a delicious pasta salad at work the following day if you manage to save any.

The beauty of this satisfying simple meals is that you can interchange so many other ingredients and use whatever veggies you have on hand. In season is always cheaper and better quality. Even better again, you may have some perfect veggies growing in your garden to pop in! Enjoy!

x Harry

Serves: 2-4 (in our house it serves 2 as we are big eaters, but could easily become a side dish and serve more)

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

PASTA

800g veg, chopped into small pieces (I used pumpkin)

2 cups pasta (I used brown rice pasta)

3/4 cup olives, pitted

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered

1 – 2 cups basil (the more the better) finely chopped

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon coconut aminos

CASHEW ‘PARMESAN’

1/2 cup cashews

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2  teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius fan-forced. Line a baking tray with baking paper and spread pumpkin over the tray. Place the in the oven to cook for 30 minutes.

Place all your cashew parmesan ingredients in a food processor and pulse to combine. Process until a fine meal like texture is achieved.

Bring a pot of water to the boil and add the pasta. Simmer until cooked. Drain and add to a large mixing bowl.

Gather other ingredients

Add these ingredients to the pasta and stir well.

COOKS NOTES

Veggies – I used pumpkin this time but zucchini, eggplant, sweet potato and carrots are all delicious too. Whatever is in season and available to you is perfect!

Pasta – I used brown rice pasta this time because it was all I had on hand, my favourites are black bean or mung bean, which are available at most wholefood or health food stores but you could use any pasta you have on hand.

Choose wisely – Quality of ingredients is key for taste here. The cherry tomatoes I used are our end of season homegrown ones and a few leftover organic ones. I find with tomatoes it makes all the difference!

Cashew ‘parmesan’ – This is good on lots of different meals and keeps well in an airtight container in the fridge so definitely double this batch and store extra for later if you have the ingredients on hand. I used cashews but you can also use brazil nuts and almonds or sunflower seeds for a nut-free alternative.

Coconut aminos – Although not yet available at major supermarkets, this ingredient is seriously out-of-this-world delicious so when you come across it at your local wholefood/health food store or online, stock up! It is good on EVERYTHING, avo toast, salads, stir fries, curries, you name it!