Pasta With Roasted Vegetables (Potluck Portion!)

We always do an end-of-semester party with our students in our language immersion program; after all, when you spend 20 hours a week for 15 weeks with the same class, you get to know each other pretty well, so it’s nice to have an informal day with them.

When you don’t have proper travel packs for food – improvise! Saved rubber band show their worth here.

Usually, we do a massive celebration with all our classes together, but this semester it just wasn’t coming together, so each lecturer did an individual class party.

And sometimes you DO have the right gear: Pampered Chef Measuring Cup with LID

So I passed around a sign-up sheet so we’d know who was bringing what, including paper goods and soft drinks and the like. And my students, who claim to love food and hail from most corners of the earth (Caribbean, Central America, South America, Europe, Asia, SouthEast Asia, and Russia, wrote cookies, snack, cookies, snack…like, what!?! I was NOT going to have a Dunkin’ Munchkin affair.

Mixed up and ready to go…

So I panicked and made a dish myself (which we lecturers don’t often do, since our students are usually so generous with the home-cooked dishes). Pasta seemed the right solution and I was able to carry the sauce separate from the pasta and reheat it in the office microwave…Although we have no vegetarians, roasted vegetables seemed the right way to go.

I needn’t have worried. My wonderful class brought chicken adobo (Philipines), roast chicken (Korea), empanadas (Colombia), warmed greens salad (Haiti), and pasta (U.S. style!). Plus a gigantic and delicious lemon cream cake! So it was a lovely spread and a nice way to close the semester before their big test

The International Buffet

The Thank You Cake

Pasta with Roasted Vegetables

Two pounds short, curly pasta – shells, farfalle, penne, or cavatappi

Vegetables

4-5 Cups mixed chopped vegetables (zucchini/red pepper/yellow squash/cauliflower/broccoli/asparagus)

4 cloves garlic, minced

Small onion, peeled and minced

1-2 Tbs olive oil

Sauce

2 Tbs olive oil

1 medium onion, peeled and diced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

8 oz button mushrooms (white or baby bella), woody parts of stems removed before chopping

Hot red pepper flakes – a pinch or two, optional

Two 28 oz. cans diced or pureed tomatoes

Salt to taste

1 Cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano or other grating cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spread vegetables, onion, and garlic on a rimmed baking dish, drizzle with oil and roast for 1 hour.

Prepare pasta according to package directions.

In the meantime, heat oil for sauce in a large pot until liquid and fragrant. Add onions sauté for a minute, then add garlic. Saute for an additional minute, then add mushrooms. Cook at medium heat until mushrooms release their liquid (about five minutes), stirring occasionally. Add pepper flakes, if desired, and add canned tomatoes. Cook at a slow simmer until vegetables are finished roasting. Add vegetables and stir to combine. Add pasta and cheese, mix well and serve.

Tags: cooking, food, pasta with roasted vegetables, potluck, recipes, roasted vegetables, sauce, vegan, vegetarian