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Roasted Root Vegetable Pasta with Pesto

October 27, 2016

Roasted root vegetable pasta with pesto is a hearty and nutritious one-bowl meal. A perfect way to celebrate the flavors of the fall and winter season.

 

Overhead Bowl Roasted Root Vegetable Pasta

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If you love roasted root vegetables raise your hand. My hand is raised, is yours?! I know it is because who doesn’t love roasted root vegetables! In fact I love root vegetables in a variety of ways, but it should come as no surprise that roasting is my favorite, especially in this root vegetable pasta.

After all, roasting brings out the sweetness in everything and I have one heck of a sweet tooth. Put me in front of a tray of fresh-from-the-oven crispy, caramelized carrots, sweet potatoes, beets, and any winter squash and they may not make it to the plate, or bowl as is the case in this recipe!

I first posted this roasted root vegetable pasta recipe in the fall of 2011, back when my husband had sent me this NY Times recipe for Quinoa with Roasted Winter Vegetables and Pesto. This was almost a year before my girls were born and we lived in the city and belonged to a CSA.

I had just received a bounty of vegetables including a basket full of sweet potatoes, a bunch of kale, a rutabaga, and a small head of broccoli, so it was the perfect way to put all those nutritious and delicious vegetables to use. I think I was out of quinoa the day I made this, so I used pasta instead.

Now five years later, I decided to revamp the recipe once again, and in doing so have changed up some of the included vegetables.

Bowl of Roasted Root Vegetable Pasta with Pesto

 

Ingredients & Preparation

This roasted root vegetable pasta includes so many veggies you will for sure meet your quota for the day. We’ve got sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, parsnip, cauliflower, and onions all in this one dish.

Oh, and kale too, thanks to the kale pesto that lightly coats both the pasta and roasted veggies. I make this pesto with walnuts (something I learned about on a visit many years ago to the California walnut harvest), but you can just as easily make any version of pesto you’d like. Go the traditional route with basil and pine nuts or switch it up and use spinach or arugula pureed with almonds or pistachios.

Or keep it nut-free as I do for my Mushroom-Onion Truffle Pesto Pizza – you’ll see that pesto also includes ricotta cheese to save on some calories – see, I told you the possibilities are endless!

 

The great thing about pesto is that you can save some for another use, whether the pizza I just mentioned or as a topping for soup – I have a recipe for that coming next week, so save some pesto and stay tuned!

This Fall Roasted Root Vegetable Pasta with Pesto is super easy to make and quite fast too – roasting the vegetables takes the most time of anything here, and you can get everything else ready while they’re in the oven.

If you’re looking for some additional protein to round out the meal, diced grilled chicken would be a perfect add-in or serve this roasted root vegetable pasta as a side dish to a piece of beef, chicken, or fish instead.

However you serve it, I hope you enjoy! Mangia!

Forkful of Roasted Root Vegetable Pasta

 

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Roasted root vegetable pasta with pesto is a hearty and nutritious one-bowl meal. A perfect way to celebrate the flavors of the fall season. Get the vegetarian recipe at Small Bites by Jessica.

Fall Roasted Root Vegetable Pasta with Pesto

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 45 minutes

Sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, parsnip, and cauliflower are roasted and tossed with whole wheat pasta and kale pesto in this hearty and nutritious one-bowl meal. A perfect way to celebrate the flavors of the fall season.

Ingredients

For the roasted root veggies and pasta:

  • 1 small orange sweet potato,, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 small purple sweet potato,, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 2 medium beets,, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 6 rainbow carrots,, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1 large parsnip,, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
  • 1/2 one large head cauliflower,, cut into florets
  • 1/2 medium red onion,, chopped into medium chunks
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil,, divided
  • 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt,, divided
  • 1 pound whole wheat pasta

For the Kale Pesto:

  • 1 1/2 bunches kale,, chopped
  • 1/2 cup walnut halves
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmesan or pecorino cheese,, plus more for garnish (if desired)
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Instructions

For the roasted root veggies and pasta:

  1. Preheat oven to 400°F and line two large baking sheets with aluminum foil. Spread sweet potatoes, beets, carrots, and parsnips in a single layer on one baking sheet and toss with half the olive oil and half the salt. Spread the cauliflower and onions on the second baking sheet and toss with the rest of the oil and salt.
  2. Place both baking sheets in the oven and roast for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the vegetables are caramelized on the outside and tender on the inside. The cauliflower and onion will need less time than the other vegetables, so keep an eye on them.
  3. While the vegetables are roasting, cook the pasta according to package directions and prepare the pesto. Reserve some pasta water before draining.

For the kale pesto:

  1. Bring a medium pot of water to boil. Blanch the kale by adding it to the pot of boiling water and cooking for about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from pot and run under cold water to stop cooking. Strain and squeeze out excess liquid.
  2. In a large food processor, puree blanched kale, walnuts, garlic, cheese, olive oil, salt, and lemon juice until smooth.
  3. To serve, drain the pasta and gently toss with the roasted root vegetables and pesto. Add some of the reserved pasta water if needed to thin out the pesto and coat the pasta and vegetables. Serve hot with extra parmesan cheese, if desired.

Do you love roasted root vegetables as much as I do?

If so, what’s your favorite way to enjoy them?

Share with me in the comments below!

Roasted root vegetable pasta with pesto with title overlay

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  1. How cute your husband emails you recipes he likes! I’m not sure my husband is on the kale bandwagon yet….he definitely didn’t care for my kale smoothie! But this pesto looks delicious so I may just try this out. More for me if he doesn’t like it πŸ™‚

    1. I can’t say my husband is on the bandwagon yet – he was extremely skeptical about kale pesto – but he liked it (although definitely not as much as a regular pesto!). The other way he likes kale is when I make kale chips. Maybe your husband will like those!

  2. Excellent Recipe! I just tried it with pine nuts instead of walnuts and I tossed in a few extra veggies I had around the house. DELICIOUS!

    1. Thanks Sally! That pesto sounds yummy! If I use kale in certain ways my hubby will take it! I can’t say I’m the biggest kale eater either, but in the pesto it’s super yum!

  3. 5 stars
    I loved watching you and your sous chefs last night on IG whip this up! So creative and a great way to eat the rainbow!

  4. I love everything in this bowl! It looks so tasty! I could eat it for lunch and then have it as a side dish for dinner!

    1. Thanks Kristina! It’s a super yummy one – I always make sure I roast enough veggies and make a whole pound of pasta so I can have leftovers πŸ˜‰

  5. I can’t get enough pasta or pesto lately – definitely going to try this! Love how easy it is to work in all the yummy fall veggies!

    1. Can’t wait to hear how you like this roasted root vegetable pasta with pesto Whitney! Make sure you make enough for leftovers – I have a feeling you’ll want some πŸ˜‰

  6. It is definitely roasted vegetable season and this pasta is going on our menu! I love the root veggie assortment you used.

  7. My hand is definitely raised! I don’t typically pair pesto with some of my root veggies but I love pesto so not sure why?! Gonna happen now!

  8. Love this! Such a wonderful idea for a delicious and wholesome fall dinner. Looks so delicious!

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