If you are a regular around here, you know I love a wide variety of vegetables, so I jumped at the chance to amp up standard pasta with roasted veggies!

• Chop all of the following into bite size pieces…
  • 1 broccoli crown
  • 1 red pepper
  • 3-4 carrots
  • 1 zucchini
  • Toss all with olive oil and salt/pepper to taste. Roast in a 400* oven for 15-20 minutes, until veggies reach desired level of softness.
• Meanwhile, boil one box of whole wheat penne noodles according to package directions.
• In separate sauce pan…
  • Saute 1 Tablespoon of chopped garlic in 1/4 cup of olive oil.
  • Once garlic is fragrant, whisk in 1/4 cup of flour. Cook for one to two minutes.
  • Slowly stir in two cups of milk. Continue stirring frequently until thickened.
  • Gradually whisk in 2 cups of colby jack cheese.
  • Season sauce with 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper and 1/4 teaspoon of roasted red pepper flakes (more of each if you love spice!).
• Combine roasted veggies, noodles, and cheese sauce.
• PAUSE….you can eat the pasta right now, or you can place it in a greased casserole dish, top with bread crumbs or crushed crackers and bake at 350* for 15ish minutes, until browned and bubbly. (I adore baked pasta.)

Yum, yum, yum! You could absolutely play with the assortment of roasted veggies to meet your taste buds’ needs. I did use skim milk though I threw in full-fat cheese. Overall, I’ll say it again…yum! yum! yum!