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Have you made baked pasta with roasted vegetables before? If you haven’t, you just have to try this amazing recipe inspired by a dish we loved in France. It’s perfect for an easy summer meal! Check out all of these Green Vegetables.
I recently shared that I used to think I didn’t like eggplant (can’t even remember why I had that in my head), but I decided to give it another chance last year and have slowly started to change my mind. I’ve even caught myself ordering it at a restaurant and craving it in dishes at home—what a turn around!
This recipe below is inspired by one of our favorite restaurant meals in France and actually included a pork chop as well (pictured above). And it wasn’t at an uppity, expensive restaurant in Paris … just at a little roadside café in the small town of Cluny at the uber reasonable cost of 8 Euros (about 10 bucks).
Vegetables for Summer Pasta Bake
Eggplant, zucchini, and Roma tomatoes are all in season during the summer making them perfect choices for a seasonal pasta bake. They’re also easy to grow in a backyard garden or patio container for an even healthier meal!
Eggplant
Eggplant is great because it’s hearty, nutritious, and absorbs the flavors of whatever it’s cooked with. If you haven’t tried it or don’t think you like eggplant, try it cooked in a flavorful pasta dish; it totally changes the experience.
For this recipe, leave the skin on the eggplant. If you must substitute, summer squash is a great alternative.
Zucchini
Another light summer vegetable, zucchini adds a natural sweetness to dishes, especially when cooked. Like eggplant, zucchini will take on the flavor of the dish making it a perfect addition to a pasta bake for picky eaters.
Roma Tomatoes
Roma tomatoes help balance the subtle flavors of zucchini and eggplant in this dish. You can also use other tomato varieties, but they may be more watery. Romas are less juicy than other tomatoes, so make sure you drain any tomato substitutes to avoid a soggy dish.
Other Vegetable Ideas for Baked Pasta
I love baked pasta with vegetables because you can easily swap the veggies for anything you have on hand. Baked pasta is a great way to use up produce you bought for another recipe or to make use of in season garden vegetables.
Here are some great vegetable options for pasta:
- Bell peppers
- Onions
- Summer squash
- Cherry tomatoes
- Mushrooms
What’s the Best Whole Wheat Pasta to Enjoy with Summer Vegetables?
You can use any whole wheat pasta you have on hand for this baked pasta recipe. We made ours with spaghetti, and the restaurant dish in France that inspired this recipe used rotini. Penne, farfalle, linguine, and fusilli are also fantastic options. If you love penne, try this Homemade Hamburger Helper!
Substitutions for White Wine in this Recipe
Cooking with wine adds authentic flavor to this European-inspired pasta dish, but I understand it’s not for everyone. Here are some things you can use instead of white wine in this recipe:
- White wine vinegar is the closest substitution. It’s basically a dry white wine without the alcohol in it, but it’s definitely more acidic so use less. Other white vinegars including rice wine vinegar can also be used.
- Vegetable or chicken stock can be used. If your stock (or broth) is bland, add extra seasoning. If it’s salted, taste your pasta before adding more salt.
- Apple cider vinegar has a similar flavor profile to white wine and still tastes great, especially if you enjoy the taste already, but again, use a little less.
- Equal parts water and lemon juice can also add tanginess and flavor without alcohol.
Can This Roasted Summer Vegetable Pasta Be Made Ahead and Frozen?
Yes! This is a great option for a freezer meal that you can enjoy later. You can either freeze a whole pre-cooked casserole or divide it into portions to enjoy later.
To freeze: First follow the recipe to make this roasted vegetable pasta dish, including baking. Once the pasta has cooled completely it can be frozen. Make sure to label leftovers and freeze them in airtight containers (or in a full pan covered with foil).
To thaw leftover baked pasta: Let it thaw in the fridge overnight then reheat in the microwave or oven or stovetop (with a little water added to the pan).
Roasted Summer Vegetable Pasta
Ingredients
- ½ lb whole-wheat spaghetti (boiled according to package directions, drained and set aside)
- 1 eggplant (about 12-13 ounces , cut into 1” dice)
- 2 zucchinis ((or other summer squash), about 7 to 8 ounces each, cut into 1” dice)
- 2 roma tomatoes (cut into 1” dice, optional)
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1/3 cup dry white wine
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt (or less if tomato sauce has salt added)
- 1 1/4 teaspoon thyme (dried)
- pepper (to taste)
- 1 15-oz can tomato sauce (organic, unseasoned, preferably with “no salt added”)
- 3/4 cup parmesan cheese (freshly grated)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
- In a 13" X 9" casserole dish combine the eggplant, zucchini, tomatoes (if using), and garlic. Sprinkle over top the wine, olive oil and spices. Roast veggies until they are tender and brown, about 40 minutes, stirring once halfway through the cooking time.
- Pull the casserole dish out of the oven and stir the noodles and tomato sauce in with the veggies. Top with the Parmesan cheese and stick the casserole dish back in the oven until the cheese is melted, about 5 more minutes. Serve warm and enjoy!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was FANTASTIC! Thank you! :-)
DELISH.. Made this last night for dinner night 1 of the 10 day challenge. I used fresh thyme other than that the recipe was perfect and very filling..
Unfortunately, pasta is not real food.
As we define it, whole grain pasta is a real food. The varieties we buy are one ingredient, made from whole grains, and typically organic. We make it ourselves from scratch sometimes.
https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/real-food-defined-a-k-a-the-rules/
I made this tonight for dinner and it was a complete sucess! We will definitely make this again! We love garlic so I added 4 big cloves. Thank you for the awesome recipes!
Made this tonight, and LOVED it! My husband was skeptical about whole wheat pasta (one step at a time around here), but agreed to try it. We both give it a 10! We did make a few possibly significant changes. We didn’t have eggplant. We added in some yellow squash, 1/2 and onion, and used 6 garlic cloves instead of 2 (because we love garlic). We also added in some diced pork we had planned to use prior to seeing this recipe. It was DELICIOUS! Thanks for all you do! I love feeding my family “real food”!
I love this recipe, but I have to say don’t use olive oil, substitute a oil that can be cooked at high heat temps. I use grape seed oil. Keep in mind olive oil can be toxic when cooked at high temps.
I made this last week, and it was delicious! I was worried plain tomato sauce would be bland, but it was not! I used the recipe as written with just a couple of changes… I used veggie broth instead of white wine and threw in a little diced onion. It will definitely be on our regular meal rotation! Thank you!
The most delicious meal ever. Topped it with a small portion of grilled chicken. Sooo good, and embarrassingly my first time ever eating eggplant that I can remember.
I recently discovered spaghetti squash and have started using it rather than whole-grain pastas. Do you think it would work with this recipe? Or should I stick with the whole-grain pasta?
Hi Kristy. I absolutely think you should try and let us know! I love spaghetti squash and may try it myself. :) ~Amy
I wanted to WARN YOU of a PHISHING BUG on this page!! My firewall blocked it because I’m using my work PC, but if I was at home the spyware would have succeeded in latching on to my personal data!!
If you click on the in-text hyperlink to eMeals, in the 1st paragraph on the page, you will end up with spyware on your computer system. Please, webmaster, look after this and if you can, find a way to eliminate it. It might be a good idea to check ALL your hyperlinks; personally, now I feel it might be wise to stay away from your website while at my comparatively vulnerable home system. Thanks…
Hi Ginger,
I’m the web developer for 100 Days. I just checked out the eMeals link, and everything appears to be working fine from what I can see. There is no phishing bug on our site. In fact, we scan the site daily by Sucuri Security to ensure the site remains safe for our visitors.
We do use the Skimlinks plugin to help track affiliate links — so when someone clicks on the eMeals link in the post, it redirects through the Skimlinks server, and then on to the eMeals website.
Perhaps your work firewall saw the redirects and that triggered a false alarm? If it happens again, can you please send us the exact text of the error/warning message?
Thanks!
– Andrew
I made this tonight with the help of my 3 year old and i am 37 weeks prego. so easy and delicious. We used chicken broth, orzo and added chicken for extra protein. I omitted the cheese and tomato sauce.
What can I substitute for the wine in this recipe? I don’t like to add alcohol since my daughter eats it.. Thanks in advance.
Hi. This is a helpful link and gives you a really thorough list: http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blalcohol6.htm. ~Amy
My husband and I both do not like eggplant, but I made this tonight and I have to say it was delicious! I’m so happy to find an eggplant recipe we can both enjoy! It’s a keeper!
I made this for dinner on Saturday night, and it was fabulous! My only change was to use whole wheat orzo. I served it with grilled chicken. My six year old daughter said it had “a really great flavor.” My husband also loved it. We’ll definitely make it again!
I made for dinner tonight and it is absolutely delicious! I only had white zinfandel on hand but it was perfect. My three girls (5,3,and 15 months) devoured it. This will definitely be added to the rotation. Thanks for the recipe!
I made this tonight and it is delicious! I used vegetable broth instead of wine because I had some I needed to use up. Next time I make this I might add mushrooms.
I made this the other day and it was excellent. I added a sweet onion when roasting the vegetables and some diced roasted chicken before the final heat through. Trader Joes has an excellent “no salt added” marinara and I used that. Making again this weekend.
Delicious. I am not an eggplant fan so used butternut squash, cherry tomatoes cut in half and lots of zucchini. Gorgeous!
This is so good, perfect for summer. Comfort food, but not heavy.
I made this last night with the veggies we had on hand (broccoli, asparagus, bell peppers and onions) and even though we had to skip the cheese (we are doing a detox this week), it was delish and the roasting veggies made the whole house smell so good! Now I can’t wait to make it again with the cheese… :)
So, just made this with my kids (bonus). Subbed brocoli for zucchini and used a hard goat cheese instead of parm because these were the things I had on hand. Absolutely delicious! All four of us ate it up. Served with a lightly seasoned salad of fresh, organic romaine (my daughter’s favorite) and for me and hubby a glass of cold chardonnay…what a great Tuesday it has turned out to be!
We just made this for dinner using yellow squash in place of the zucchini. It is wonderful! Our 11 & 13 year olds both enjoyed it as much as the adults.
Just did a rif on this Sunday, added grilled shrimp, some tomatoes and made home made pasta because I just got a new cutter!! Great way to use up the egg plant and summer squash. And we did have a Chardonnay with it that went quite well
I’m not a wine drinker, so I don’t know what kind of wine to use, can you recommend something?
Chardonnay is great in this dish!
Delicious! Made this tonight…easy and tasted awesome! Arlene, I subbed chicken broth for the wine and it worked great.
Oh good glad to hear it :)
This gets a thumbs up from me! I served it with shrimp (cooked separately). And I also added some frozen kale to the roasting pan at the end. My kids aren’t used to kale, but they ate it on crackers, so that’s a win in my book. Baby steps. Really good recipe. Hubby complimented the veggies (Home Alone face here)
Sounds really good. Now my problem is, I am not a wine drinker. I would appreciate a suggested wine for cooking. Whether it be white or red – I realize that you are suppose to use something that you would like to drink. Any suggestions?
Either a Chardonnay or vegetable broth (if you want to forgo the wine all together) would be great!
I have been adding our garden zucchini to our weekly spaghetti dinner, but I have a ton of eggplants growing now so this will be perfect!
I’m going to make this tonight. Thanks
Oh yum! I’m pretty sure I have everything that I need to make this. I went on a shopping spree at the farmer’s market yesterday and bought tons of tomatoes and some adorable little eggplants that I can use instead of one big one.
I made this tonight as directed and it was a big hit. Even with our 2- and 3-year-old, so that says a lot. Thanks for the great inspiration and recipes.
I am so glad to hear that – success! :)
I love these kind of recipes where I can get a bunch of veggies in one pot. I feel like I end up with some many veggies, and don’t want them to go bad, so I’m running around thinking of a bunch of things to make.
do you need to salt the eggplant to draw the bitter juices out like when you make mousska? having to do that puts me off cooking with eggplant!
No, you do not – I agree I like to skip steps when possible!
Yummy! Sounds so delicious and zucchini & summer squash are growing like crazy in Michigan this year! I’ve been buying them every week at our local farmers market. Will get eggplant this weekend too :)
Do you think you could freeze this? What would you recommend for cooking thine from frozen?
Most pastas are fine to go directly from the freezer to the oven for a reheat at 375* until heated through the middle. If you defrost overnight, it will take less time to heat. Enjoy.
I’m totally making this tonight. I subbed in some carrots instead of eggplant and cherry tomatoes instead of roma, because that’s what I had in my fridge. The veggies are roasting now and the whole house smells AMAZING.
Oh good – hope you enjoyed!
I think I have all of these ingredients. Yum!
This looks delicious! I’m new to your blog and my family and I are starting our 10 day challenge tomorrow! So exciting! This is definitely going on the meal plan. WE LOVE our EMealz! We’ve been using the “Low Fat for 2”, but now we are 3 people, and the baby eats as much as an adult. So we’re looking at changing to the clean eating family plan. Thanks for this recipe!
Good luck with the 10-day pledge! :)
yum! i may try a variation of this with a little local ground beef and spaghetti squash instead of noodles!
I was thinking that about the spaghetti squash too. I bet that would work great. This recipe sounds delicious. Can’t wait to try it.
Yum, I just imagine this with shrimp on top and glass of cool and crisp white wine ~ heaven…
Thanks for sharing!