Roasted Veggies Pasta Salad
A sturdy pasta salad that’s loaded with tons of vegetables and FLAVOR, this Roasted Veggies Pasta Salad will last you for days and keep you full for hours!
While I don’t do pasta as often as I used to, i.e. every single day of my life, I still like to splurge a little from time to time…
Quite frankly, I don’t think I’ve ever met a pasta dish that I didn’t like. But give me a sturdy pasta salad that’s loaded with tons of roasted vegetables and bursting with flavor, such as this Roasted Veggies Pasta Salad, and I’m in heaven!
Indeed, this salad contains a very healthy amount of sheet pan roasted vegetables: you’re looking at 3 whole bell peppers, a complete head of broccoli, and half a pound of mushrooms. In fact, this bowl probably contains way more vegetables than it does pasta…
All these tasty components are brought together by a deliciously tangy, sweet and savory dressing, as well as a handful of freshly grated Parmesan cheese. That’s flavor to the tenth power for ya!
Furthermore, this sturdy pasta salad will keep well in the fridge for several days, so it can be made well ahead of time. Perfect if you’re going to bring it to a picnic or BBQ, or enjoy it as a light lunch or side all through the week.
I ask you: what’s there not to like?
When making this salad, your first course of action should be to cook some pasta. Any kind of short pasta. I chose to use Cavatappi because I think they’re fun and well, I don’t tend to keep that many different varieties in the pantry like I used to, so they sort of happen to be the only suitable pasta that I had on hand that day. But really, any kind of short pasta would work.
Now, I don’t think that I need to tell you how to cook pasta… besides, they pretty much all come with cooking instructions printed on the package…
When your pasta is cooked, rinse it under cold running water until slightly warm but not completely chilled and set aside to drain.
Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 450°F and line a 18″ x 26″ baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place the broccoli florets, bell peppers and mushrooms in that prepared pan. Drizzle with the olive oil and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the pan in the oven and let the veggies roast for about 20 minutes, or until they become soft and start to darken. Toss once, halfway through cooking.
It’s important that you use a large sheet pan here so there is plenty of space for air to circulate around the vegetables. If they were all bunched up together in a tiny little pan, they would release tons of liquid and would end up boiling as opposed to roasting.
While the vegetables are roasting away, combine all the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl or measuring cup and mix with a whisk until well combined and slightly emulsified.
Then, as soon as the vegetables are done roasting, put the cooked pasta in a large mixing bowl and throw in the roasted veggies.
Top with some freshly grated Parmesan cheese, finely chopped parsley and then pour in the dressing.
Give the whole thing a good toss, until well combined.
Technically, your salad is now ready to be served, but it would greatly benefit from a little bit of rest, to allow flavors to meld. If time permits, let it sit for a couple of hours before you go to town.
Any leftovers can be kept in the fridge in an airtight container for up to a full week!
Roasted Veggies Pasta Salad
Ingredients
- 3 cups dry short pasta of your choice, (I used Cavatappi)
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- 4 cups broccoli florets
- 1 each yellow red and orange bell peppers, sliced
- 8 oz sliced mushrooms
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp salt, I use Himalayan salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
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- 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1/4 cup chopped parsley
For the dressing
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp unpasteurized honey
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 tsp salt, I use Himalayan salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp chili pepper flakes
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package. When cooked, rinse the pasta under cold running water until warm but not completely chilled, set aside to drain.
- Meanwhile, preheat your oven to 450°F and line a 18" x 26" baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Place the broccoli florets, bell peppers and mushrooms in that prepared pan. Drizzle with the olive oil and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the pan in the oven and let the veggies roast for about 20 minutes, or until they become soft and start to darken. Toss once, halfway through cooking.
- Combine all the ingredients for the dressing in a small bowl or measuring cup and mix with a whisk until well combined and slightly emulsified.
- Put the cooked pasta in a large mixing bowl, top with the roasted veggies, grated Parmesan cheese, chopped parsley and dressing. Toss until well combined.
- You can serve the salad now, or leave it to rest for a couple of hours to allow flavors to meld.
- This salad will keep for up to a week if kept refrigerated in an airtight container.
Nutrition
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