Upgrade your pasta night with a homemade roasted vegetable pasta sauce made with roasted tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, and bell peppers. Filled with the flavors of Provence and the Mediterranean, it’s the perfect topping for your favorite pasta.
Searching for an easy way to incorporate more vegetables into your pasta night? Then you’ll want to give this roasted vegetable pasta sauce a try. Making your own sauce from fresh tomatoes and vegetables is easier than you think. Just chop, roast and blend!
Forget the ho-hum jars of pasta sauce you can pick up at the store and make a batch of homemade roasted vegetable sauce instead. Toss it with your favorite pasta for a simple and nutritious vegetarian meal any day of the week.
If you like the classic French dish ratatouille you’ll love this roasted vegetable pasta sauce. Full of tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant and bell peppers it has all the flavors of ratatouille but in a sauce rather than a stew. It’s a great recipe to make during late summer or early fall when tomatoes and summer vegetables are in season and at their best. Here’s what you’ll need:
Ingredient Notes:
(Here are a few notes about the ingredients you’ll need for this recipe. As always find the full list of ingredients and directions in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.)
- Tomatoes – I like to use vine tomatoes but you can also use Roma tomatoes for roasting.
- Zucchini – Choose small to medium sized zucchini and avoid large ones which can be both spongey and filled with seeds.
- Bell Peppers – Use either red or orange.
- Eggplant - Choose a small to medium eggplant as they tend to have fewer seeds. It should be firm but not hard, with a smooth shiny skin and be heavy for its size.
- Carrots – Many tomato sauce recipes will add sugar to the sauce but I prefer carrots. A few carrots add enough sweetness to the sauce to cut through any acidity in the tomatoes.
- Garlic – A few cloves of garlic pack a flavorful punch.
- Herbs – I’m using herbes de provence which is a blend of dried herbs typically used in ratatouille. If you don’t have any you can also use a mixture of dried thyme, oregano and basil.
- Olive Oil – Use your favorite extra-virgin olive oil.
How to Make Roasted Vegetable Sauce:
(Here are the basic steps and some helpful tips on how to make the recipe. Find the full directions in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.)
- Start by chopping the vegetables into similarly sized pieces so that they cook evenly, and then place them on a sheet pan along with the garlic, herbs and olive and toss to combine.
- Place the vegetables in the oven to roast until tender.
- In the meantime you can cook your pasta according to the package directions and reserve some of the pasta water to use in the sauce. (If you aren’t planning on making pasta immediately you can simply substitute warm water or vegetable broth when it comes time to blend the sauce.)
- Once the vegetables are done you can use a pair of tongs to peel the skins off of the tomatoes if you’d like (it’s optional) then place the vegetables in the blender along with the reserved pasta water and blend. If you want a chunky consistency pulse lightly until you achieve your desired consistency or if you like your sauce silky smooth blend for longer.
- Toss with your cooked pasta and serve with grated cheese over the top if desired. Dinner is served!
Variations:
- Omit eggplant and substitute additional tomatoes.
- Use as a pizza sauce.
- Serve with zucchini noodles or the pasta alternative of your choice.
More Pasta Recipes:
Roasted Vegetable Pasta Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 medium carrots, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
- ½ a medium eggplant, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
- 1 medium zucchini, cut into 1-2 inch pieces
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1-2 inch pieces
- 1 ½ pounds (5-6) medium vine tomatoes, seeded and cut into quarters
- 4-5 cloves of garlic, peeled but left whole
- ½ teaspoon herbes de Provence
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3 Tablespoons/45ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup/240ml filtered water or vegetable broth
- Pasta of choice for serving
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 425 F.
- Toss together carrots, eggplant, zucchini, red bell pepper, tomatoes and garlic cloves with the herbes de Provence, salt and olive oil on a parchment-line baking sheet. Spread out evenly into one layer and place in oven for 35-40 minutes (or until vegetables are tender).
- (Meanwhile make your pasta according to package directions, reserving about a cup of pasta water.)
- Remove vegetables from oven and if desired use a pair of tongs to remove the skins from the tomatoes.
Place vegetables into blender and add either 1 cup of reserved pasta water or one cup of warm water or broth. Pulse lightly for a chunky consistency or blend until smooth for a silky consistency.- Toss sauce with pasta and serve, or pour into jars, let cool, and store in the fridge until needed.
Notes
Variations:
Omit eggplant and substitute additional tomatoes.
Use as a pizza sauce
Serve with zucchini noodles or the gluten-free pasta alternative of your choice
Storage:
Store sauce in airtight jars in fridge for up to a week.
Dietary Info:
Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Vegetarian, Vegan, Dairy-Free, Egg-Free, Nut-Free, Paleo
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 195Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 362mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 3gSugar: 3gProtein: 2g
Nutritional information for recipes contained on this website, such as calories, fat, carbs, etc. are only estimates and are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Sylvie Shirazi is the recipe developer and food photographer behind Gourmande in the Kitchen. For the last 10 years she's been making eating more healthfully easy and accessible with gluten-free, grain-free, paleo and vegan recipes that are free from processed ingredients.
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