easy peasy roasted vegetable pasta

consider this your new back pocket pasta dish. you know, the one that you can make anytime-- for yourself, your family and even for company. 

it is another more-method-than-recipe kind of recipe and in case you haven't noticed, those are my most favored kind.

 this is usually how i cook, and i love being able to share my cooking inspiration with you. i threw in zucchini, asparagus, broccoli and cauliflower but it would have been even more veggie-packed and filling with a red pepper and some eggplant. you could even roast an onion or a head of garlic and toss that in.

i really wanted the roasted vegetables to be the focus of this dish so i only cooked a little penne pasta, maybe 1/3 of a pound.

i added fresh lemon juice, olive oil, sun dried tomatoes and some of that flavorful oil that they are packed in, grated parmesan and salt and pepper to the pasta and vegetables as i tumbled them all together in a big wooden bowl. i used 1 head of broccoli, 1 head of cauliflower, 1 bunch asparagus and 2 zucchini. i had some chickpeas leftover in the fridge, so i tossed those in when i mixed the pasta and vegetables together at the end.

if i had some fresh basil or flat leaf parsley on hand, i would have happily added that to the mix.

basically-

cut up as many different vegetables as you like then arrange on 2 baking sheets, generously drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, toss and roast at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes.

cook a little pasta and drain. place the veggies and pasta in a large bowl and add sun dried tomatoes, parmesan (or romano, asiago, goat cheese or blue cheese), lemon juice, salt, pepper and olive oil. gently mix it all together and taste, adding more cheese/lemon/olive oil/s+p as desired.