Roasted Summer Vegetable and Feta Pasta

This is lovely as a salad on its own, with the addition of some baby spinach leaves tossed through.  I make it more often though to be piled into a large bowl and served with barbecued meat or fish or as part of a help-yourself spread.

I normally use a little pasta called rosmarino which is similar to orzo but it can really be made with any small pasta, as long as it doesn't overwhelm the vegetables...they are the main focus of the dish.

                           

Ingredients

1 large or 2 small Aubergines

2-3 Courgettes

 a small punnet of Cherry Tomatoes

1-2 Red Onions

4-5 Garlic Cloves, peeled

2 Red Peppers (peeled if preferred)

1 Yellow Pepper (peeled if preferred)

Approx. 200g Dried Pasta

Generous glug of Olive Oil

1 tablespoon Balsamic Vinegar

a large handful of Fresh Basil Leaves, torn

150g Feta Cheese, cubed 

Black Pepper and (possibly) Sea Salt

• Prepare the aubergines first by thickly slicing them then layering in a colander, sprinkling each layer with salt.  Weigh the aubergines down then leave for 30-40 minutes for some of the juices to seep out.  After this time rinse the slices well to get rid of the salt then squeeze them, dry on kitchen towel and set aside until needed.
• Preheat the oven to 200C (fan).
• Thickly slice the courgettes and tip them into a large roasting tin.  Add the whole cherry tomatoes, chunky sliced red onion and the whole, peeled garlic cloves.  Finally throw in the aubergine slices and thick strips of the red and yellow peppers (I normally skin these by blackening them under the grill then peeling the skin off, but you really don't have to).
• Splash over a good glug of olive oil and a few turns of black pepper then toss all the veg together to combine and coat with the oil.  Roast in the pre-heated oven for 40-45 minutes, stirring maybe twice during this time to ensure it all cooks evenly.  They are done when all the veg are soft and some have caught a bit, take out of the oven and leave to cool slightly.
• Cook and drain the pasta, then toss in a little olive oil to prevent it sticking together.
• When you are ready to serve, stir the pasta into the veg with the balsamic vinegar then gently stir through the basil and the feta.  Taste for seasoning and add more black pepper if needed...easy on the salt (remember the feta is quite salty).
• This is best served slightly warm or at room temperature, ideally not fridge cold.