What’s Good

The other day I made chicken fajitas for dinner (from Cuisine at Home June 2008 issue), and they called for this salsa verde sauce that was made with roasted vegetables such as tomatillas, chile peppers, onions, and garlic. While the salsa was all well and good, it got me thinking about roasted vegetables. I was really intrigued me was how little work you have to do for something so good…you just have to cut up your veggies, throw ‘em in a pan, and let them sit in the oven at a moderately high temperature for a little while (30 min or so).  Plus the possibilities are almost endless, and the result can be used in many different ways. You can use roasted salsas on fajitas, tacos, enchiladas, nachos, you name it. Heck, you could serve it over ice cream and it’d be good. Depending on what types of vegetables you roast you could make different things…roasting red bell peppers with garlic could give you a lovely roasted red pepper sauce you could serve over pasta or maybe baked potaotes. Roasting carrots with onion and maybe some squash would make a great soup. Roasting tomatoes with garlic, onions, and seasonings gives you a great roasted tomato sauce for pasta too. My newfound love for roasted vegetables led me to create this for lunch today:

Fettuccine with Roasted Tomato Sauce and Parmesan.

Want to know how to make it? Read on, and observe!

INGREDIENTS:

For the sauce:

1-2 cups of cherry tomatoes, or some other kind of tomato (Romas are good.) You should probably use more than I did, since my tiny amount of tomatoes I had lying around only made 3-4 TBSP. of sauce. Use about twice that amount.

3 cloves garlic

1 shallot, or 1/4 large onion, cut into large chunks

2-3 TBSP. olive oil

Salt

Pepper

1/2 tsp. dried basil (or fresh if you have it)

1/2 tsp. dried oregano (or fresh if you have it)

You may need to use more of the seasonings if you use more tomatoes…

For the pasta:

4 oz. fettucine (or other pasta) for each person being served

1 TBSP. olive oil

Salt

METHOD:

First, you need to prep everything for the sauce. This would involve slicing the cherry tomatoes in half (a serrated knife works best), peeling the garlic cloves (do this by bashing the cloves with your fist or something heavy and peeling the loosened skins off), and peeling the shallot (do this by slicing the ends off, cutting it in half, and then carefully peel the skin off with your fingers or a paring knife). Once you’ve prepped all your veggies, throw them into a pan that’s not much bigger than what you’re putting in it that’s lined with aluminum foil. Next, drizzle the oil over the veggies and toss them together to coat them with it. Now, add the herbs and season with salt and pepper. Toss them together one more time to evenly distribute the seasonings and place the pan into a preheated 450 degree Fahrenheit oven. I used my toaster oven because it’s smaller and quicker than the big oven I have.

Mmm…getting all toasty in the oven

Roast them for 30 minutes total: 15 minutes at 450 degrees and then 15 more minutes at 350 degrees.  When 15 minutes are up begin the pasta.

Salt 4-6 cups of water or so in a large pot very liberally and add the olive oil. Bring the pot to a boil and add your pasta. Cook the pasta according to the package directions (my fettuccine took 8 minutes).

While the pasta is boiling/the veggies are roasting, get out your…..

Food processor. Now, if you don’t have a food processor, don’t worry. Either:

A.) Use a blender. OR

B.) Just put the roasted vegetables into a bowl and mash the crap out of them with a fork or a spoon or something like that until their a sauce-like consistency.

Anyway, once the pasta and veggies are done (They should be done at about the same time), let your veggies cool down for a minute or two while you drain your pasta (If you put the hot vegetables into your food pro too soon you could risk massive steam buildup which could be potentially dangerous and explode or something. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.) The veggies should look like this:

When the veggies are cooled down, put them all into your processing device and puree them until it looks like…

this. Make it as smooth or as chunky as you want.

Now, all you have to do is mix together the pasta and sauce and serve it. For additional flavor you could add some freshly grated Parmesan cheese, as I did. Or not. Your choice. Also, if you’d like a little more protein with your pasta you could add some cooked pepperoni sausage, Italian sausage, or maybe some cooked shredded chicken to it. I highly recommend the pepperoni. And there you have it Enjoy!