Ratatouille pasta

Made famous by the Pixar film Ratatouille, this French traditional dish is the ideal pairing to eat with pasta. Adam Liaw’s recipe has roasted zucchini, capsicum and a rosemary and paprika-scented finishing oil for a hearty, rich pasta dish that is completely plant-based.

• serves

  6

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• ½ medium eggplant, cut into 1.5 cm dice
• 1 zucchini, cut into 1 cm dice
• ½ red capsicum, cut into 1 cm dice
• ½ yellow capsicum, cut into 1 cm dice
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, quartered
• Salt and black pepper
• 500 g dried chifferi (elbow pasta), or other short pasta
• ½ cup (125 ml) olive oil
• 1 red onion, cut into a 1 cm dice
• 1 garlic clove, bruised

For the rosemary and paprika oil

• 2 rosemary sprigs
• ½ cup (125 ml) olive oil
• 1 tsp smoked paprika

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 220˚C (200˚C fan-forced). Arrange all the vegetables except the onion and garlic on a roasting tray, season well with salt and pepper and drizzle generously with the oil. Roast for about 20-25 minutes until the vegetables are well-browned.
2. Meanwhile, to make the rosemary and paprika oil, heat the rosemary and oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. When the rosemary begins to sizzle, stir through the paprika. Remove from the heat, then strain the oil with a fine mesh strainer. Discard the rosemary.
3. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions, checking about 2 minutes before the time printed on the packet.
4. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add about 3 tbsp of olive oil and add the onion and garlic clove. Fry until the onion softens and begins to brown, then add the drained pasta to the pan, along with ½ cup of pasta cooking water. Add the roasted vegetables to the pan and toss to combine. Drizzle the rosemary and paprika oil over the pasta and serve.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.