Spicy Roasted Ratatouille with Spaghetti
Simple roasted ratatouille served on top of burst cherry tomato spaghetti. This is a healthy, vegetarian dinner recipe featuring beautiful summer veggies!
Updated by Kathryne Taylor on August 30, 2024
Shortly after arriving at college, I decided to study abroad. It was one of those rare and beautiful decisions that seem to make themselves. I had studied French for several years in high school, so I would go to France, of course.
Just a couple of weeks after turning twenty-one, I boarded a plane to Paris with two other girls, wide-eyed and ready for adventure. I hardly remember packing for the trip, but I clearly recall the combined thrill of confusion, exhaustion and embarrassment that followed upon landing on a foreign continent.
Somehow, we found our way from Paris to Bordeaux, first via train, then tram. Along the way, we heaved our luggage up long flights of stairs and squeezed them into our travel compartments. Our final test was pulling our belongings behind us across an endless gravel parking lot to our dilapidated dorm buildings. Given the option to either laugh or cry, I found myself giggling like a maniac as my wrists went numb from the vibrations and my arms threatened to fall clean off.
In Bordeaux, we tried to live as cheaply as possible, which meant that we cooked in the dorms almost every night. In town, we stocked up on the essentials: dried pasta and baguettes, jarred pasta sauce, fruit and vegetables, cheese, wine and beer. When we first arrived, it was cold enough outside that we could hang out cheese and beer out the window in plastic grocery bags. After winter ended, I realized that, well, refrigeration isnโt quite as necessary as I had previously thought.
Every night, we met up in a dorm kitchen and cooked dinner together using a couple of pots and pans weโd bought on the cheap. Our tiled, pink โkitchensโ were relatively spacious given the lack of a refrigerator, oven and microwave. Each floorโs kitchen offered a sink and an electric stovetop that usually worked. Thatโs all.
My two friends were content eating plain spaghetti with tomato sauce and bread every night, but I branched out with vegetables and spices. I had no idea what I was doing, but I had fun playing with my dinners. One of my favorite combinations was sautรฉed zucchini and red bell pepper with spicy arrabbiata sauce. Constraints fostered creativity in those run-down kitchens, and I discovered a new interest in cooking.
I also discovered good beer while I was there. I left the U.S. with a distaste for beer in general and came back with a long list of newfound favorites. My two friends were a year older than me and introduced me to the European beers I had been missing out on.
I quickly learned that Belgians make the best beer. Stella Artoisโ logo was everywhere we went in Europe. Stella Artois is a lovely, light, well-balanced pilsner made with five basic ingredients: water, barley malt, hops, non-malted grains and Stella Artoisโ unique yeast strain. Itโs malty with a crisp, slightly bitter finishโmeaning that it pairs well with a wide variety of meals, from light to hearty. Try spicy dishes (think Indian, Mexican, Thai), cheese (cheese plates, pizza) and this mostly ratatouille pasta dish.
Stella Artois asked me to share a heritage-style recipe that pairs well with their beer. I came up with this spicy, roasted, mostly vegetable pasta dish, which features classic French ratatouille flavors and reminds me of those dinners in Bordeaux. Once youโve diced your vegetables, the dish comes together with minimal effort for a spicy, satisfying, healthy meal.
Roasted Ratatouille with Spaghetti
This roasted ratatouille spaghetti recipe is a fresh and light summer dinner featuring more vegetables than pasta! Burst cherry tomatoes, which are roasted in a separate pan, offer a light tomato sauce that coats the pasta. If youโre not in the mood for pasta, these roasted vegetables and tomatoes would be great on with cooked farro (or other whole grains), on an arugula salad with a simple vinaigrette, as a filling for omelets or as a topping for scrambled eggs. Go easy on the red pepper flakes if youโre sensitive to spice. For even roasting, try to dice the vegetables into roughly the same size pieces.
Ingredients
- 2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes
- 1 medium eggplant (about 1 pound), diced
- 1 medium zucchini, diced
- 1 medium yellow squash, diced
- 1 medium red bell pepper (or orange or yellow), diced
- 1 medium yellow or white onion, diced
- 6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 6 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- ยฝ teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Red pepper flakes
- ยฝ pound (8 ounces) whole grain spaghetti
- Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, optional
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano (or 1 teaspoon dried oregano)
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit with two racks in the middle positions. On a quarter pan or small baking dish, toss the whole baby tomatoes with 2 tablespoons olive oil and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the diced eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, bell pepper and onion. Whisk together ยผ cup olive oil, the balsamic vinegar, garlic, salt, a few generous twists black pepper and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Drizzle it over the vegetables and toss with your hands or a large spoon until the vegetables are evenly coated.
- On a half-sheet pan or other large, rimmed baking sheet, arrange the vegetables in a single layer. Place the tomatoes on the lower oven rack and the vegetables on the upper rack. Set the timer for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of well-salted water to boil. Cook pasta until al dente, according to package directions. Before draining, reserve about 1 cup pasta cooking water. Transfer the cooked pasta to a large serving bowl.
- After 20 minutes, remove both pans from the oven. The tomatoes should be bursting and juicy by now, in which case, theyโre done cooking. Use a spatula to toss the vegetables, then arrange them in a single layer again and put them back in the oven for an additional 10 to 20 minutes, or until they are cooked through and golden along the edges.
- Pour the cherry tomatoes and their juices over the spaghetti into the serving bowl. If you want your pasta to be pretty cheesy, nowโs the time to sprinkle on a generous handful of shredded Parmesan. Add a baby splash of pasta cooking water and toss until the pasta is coated with a light tomato sauce.
- Add the cooked vegetables to the bowl and toss to combine. Sprinkle with the chopped fresh herbs. If the dish needs more acidity, add another teaspoon or two of vinegar. Season with additional salt, pepper and red pepper flakes until the flavors really sing. Serve with Parmesan on the side.
Notes
Recipe roughly adapted from The Roasted Vegetable by Andrea Chesman.
Make it vegan: Either skip the Parmesan, which I didnโt find essential to the dish anyway, or serve with Minimalist Bakerโs cashew and nutritional yeast vegan โParmesanโ (itโs good!).
Make it gluten free: Substitute gluten-free pasta for the whole-grain spaghetti.
Nutrition
The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionistโs advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Stella Artois and I received compensation for my participation. Opinions are my own, always. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who support C+K!
Hi Kate,
I love your website and the recipes. I made this one myself this week, but it didnโt turn out as well as I hoped for! Basically the tomatoes and eggplant were to dry for my liking! How did you manage to hold on to so much liquid for the tomatoes?
Cheers Mark
Mark, Iโm sorry to hear that! I cooked the tomatoes on a smaller pan, as specified in the directions, which meant that they kind of stewed in their own juices. Is it possible that your oven runs hot?
My daughter and I loved. I enjoy the addition of a few pitted Kalamata olives just before serving.
Thank you, Reba! I like your olive idea.
Hello Kate I will try this recipe I have never eaten the veggie before but I will try and make this one it looks very good. Iโm at the beginning of my vegan life style journey. so if you have more ideals I would love to see them.
This looks delish. I have fresh tarragon from my farmerโs market, how do you think this dish would be with tarragon substituted for the basil? Iโm pretty new to tarragon and looking to use it in something other than potatoes (which is of course tasty). Most recipes I find are for meat eaters :/
Hey Brittney! So tarragon isnโt an herb Iโm super familiar with. I bet it would be nice here. Check out my green goddess hummus recipe!
Thanks Kate! I tried it with tarragon and it was excellent! Perfect for summer produce. I still have loads of it left, so the hummus recipe is next!
Thank you, Brittney!
Loved it! Made it without the cheese and didnโt think it was lacking a thing. Wonderful end of summer meal featuring so much great and fresh produce! Thank you!
Thank you, Sara! :)
My family and I loved this! Thank you for the recipe!
Yay, thanks Asa!
At this stage Iโm convinced you canโt come up with a bad recipe! This was simple yet phenomenal! Thanks so much for sharing your fabulous recipes with usโฆIโve never been so excited to cook dinner!
Aw shucks, thank you, Melissa! :D
Sometimes you need a lighter beer when you have a pasta dish, and Stella Artois worked perfectly. This recipe was absolutely delicious. My family and friends adored it. Bursting with flavor! Vibrant colors. Merci.
Thank you, Madeline! Glad you enjoyed the recipe and the beer!
Thank you Kate, this was absolutely delicious! My whole family asked for seconds! Iโve been really enjoying your blog โ you come across as such a nice person, your writing is so pleasant to read (I confess that I often skip those bits on other blogs, but not here) and your photos are fab! Canโt wait to get your cookbook! Thank you x
Thank you, Lydia! Thatโs awfully nice to hear. :)
Hi Kate =) i just wanted to tell you that I love your recipes. I fell in love with ur recipes the first time i cooked the lentil soup. Im so excited to try this one & a few more=)
I love this recipe canโt wait to try it out..!!! thanks
My daughter and her boyfriend are both vegan and weโre attending a graduation party soon and needed to come up with something for them to eat there. Well let me just sayโฆthis is awesome! My husband, son and myself are not vegan but I tried this recipe on them tonight and it was a huge hit! I think we are going to be trying a lot more of these recipes! Thanks so much, and it was so easy too!
Tried the recipe for the first time. It tastes very good. Thanks for putting it out.
Made this last nightโ absolutely delicious. Thanks for the recipe! It was flavorful enough even though I completely forgot to put the herbs on at the end (oops!)0
Outstanding! Simple preparation, very nutritious, and so yummy. Thank you so much.
Just made this for dinner and it was very good. Even my meat eating husband enjoyed it. The only thing I did different was to replace the spaghetti with spaghetti squash, yum.
This is a great dish, and fairly simple to make. I used penne pasta as my wife is gluten-free and penne reheats better than long pasta. I also used a full 16oz box, and it still had a great pasta-to-vegetable ratio. My wife and guests loved the dish.
I do think, however, that it would benefit from some more acid. Perhaps some lemon juice or olives. I actually had some leftovers and tossed in some kalamata olives and it ended up having some nice, sharper flavors.
Thanks, Eddie! Iโm glad you enjoyed it. My balsamic vinegar contributed enough acidity, but I have learned recently that some balsamics are very sweet. Olives sound great here.
Why is this in a vegan recipe page when it contains Parmesan cheese..? You should add a recipe for vegan Parmesan (nutritional yeast based are best) instead of suggesting people use milk product.
Hi, Sam! Iโm not sure which page youโre talking about, but I make many of my recipes vegan-optional. If you look in the recipe notes just under the instructions, I suggested a swap-out using nutritional yeast. I even link to another blog that shows you how to put the vegan substitution together.
I made this tonight and it is sooooo yummy! Iโm a vegetarian trying to be a vegan but I did include the parm. It would likely be JUST AS good without it though! The roasted tomatos and other roasted veggies combined with the pasta and spice and herbs are just amazing! Definitely give it a try!
Iโm so glad you enjoyed this, Micaela!
Yum! I made a few changes Iโd highly recommend: more crushed garlic plus whole cloves roasted (I love garlic); chunks of mozzarella mixed through; and chilli paste mixed through. Iโve been trying to replicate a chilli eggplant dish from a pasta place at my work and this got very close !!!!!
Great! Iโm so glad this got close to what you were looking for, Asako!
Yum! Loved all the vegetables and the taste of the roasted tomatoes.
Thanks, Lisa!
Made exactly as instructed and itโs ohhhhhh so good!!! Will add to my weekly menu. Thanks for a great recipe!
Youโre welcome, Diane!
Ummm, soooโฆ.Hate to burst any bubbles, but Stella Artois (like Guiness) is not vegetarian-friendly. They both contain isinglass, which is used in the brewing process โ and itโs made of fish bladders. Feel free to Google about other popular beers that contain isinglass. Cheers to GOOD beer. :)
This is my favorite go to dinner when company comes! I omit cheese (Iโm Vegan) and I eat what my company eats and relish in the complimentsโฆ.. Chalk one up to vegansโฆ AWESOME recipe and my many thanks for sharing.
BTW- Make this on a day you clean out the fridge, cause roasting veggies of any kind is a yummy thing
I make this once a week itโs marvellous, although I use any pasta, and I use nutritional yeast instead of Parmesan. As for Stellaโฆif you can get it, the triple filtered version is even betterโฆmind you Iโve never seen it on draft. Love your blog after trying several of the recipes, all of them fab xxx
Thank you, Kate!
Looks delish! Iโm going to try it this week! And just a heads up for vegetarians โ parmesan contains animal rennet (often sourced from newborn calves) unless you specifically buy vegetarian parmesan, so you may want to opt for a veggie or vegan cheese. :)
Let me know what you think! There are some parmesans that are friendly. For example, Whole Foods has a friendly option that doesnโt contain animal rennet. Thanks for your comment, Lia!
Wowza! This was hands down one of the best pasta dishes Iโve made in a very long time. Trying to include more vegies in our diet, this fit the bill quite well. So easy to prepare, too! Thank you for an amazing dinner!
Youโre sweet! Iโm really happy you like it so much. Thanks for the review!
Literally the best pasta Iโve ever had. Pasta is one of my favorite things to eat and I absolutely love this recipe! Followed it to a T.
The best ever? I will take it! Iโm happy you like it so much. I really appreciate the feedback and review, Ellie.
Can I freeze this recipe?
I havenโt tried freezing this recipe and Iโm not sure it would freeze the best with the pasta. If you try it, let me know!
Made this tonight and it is soo delicious! Plus itโs filling, one bowl and Iโm stuffed. Thanks Kate, your making my transition to โmostly vegetarianโ easier!
Iโm happy the blog is helpful! Thanks for your review.
I made this last night and it was amazing. I had some goat cheese handy and omg, this is UNREAL when you crumble some goat cheese on it right before serving!
A great way to use up some summer garden veggies Iโve been hoarding! Thank you!
You are welcome! Since you like it so much and would like to leave a star review, I would appreciate it Allison. :)
5/5 Would make again :)
Love to hear that, Allison!
Itโs so funny that youโre serving this with Stella Artois (at least on the pictures). Iโm Belgian and my grandfather worked for Stella Artois in the โ60s and โ70s. They would serve beer to all employees at 10am, for their mid-morning break, untill the female staff started complaining in the mid โ70s and asked for coffee :-)
How fun! Thanks for your review, Julie.
I was really disappointed in this recipe. My experience with your other recipes has been wonderful, but this was to put it bluntly, just bland. I will not be making this again.
Iโm really sorry to hear that, Amy. Thank you for your feedback.
Hi Kate, First of all I want to say THANK YOU for all your wonderful and delicious recipes, Me and my husband been trying to eat vegetable meals more often. And I came across into your website then I started browsing and this recipe caught my attention and Iโm like okay! Let me try this one! AND OMG!!!! THIS RECIPE DOESNโT DISAPPOINT!! Like I could never eat pasta with meat anymore. THIS IS JUST SO DELICIOUS!! 100% THANK YOU!!! THANK YOU!!! LOVE YOUR RECIPES SO MUCH.
Youโre welcome! Iโm glad you loved this recipe, Novie.
Kate: was planning on eggplant parm but worked tooooo hard on other things so used this recipe instead. Just happened to have a few pieces of summer squash but no fresh tomatoes. Ahh but I did have some leftover canned tomatoes in a jar in the fridge. So, toward the end of the roasting period I added them to the pan of veggies and roasted everything about 15 min longer.
My husband ate 3 helpings with enough left for a small dish at lunch tomorrow. He thinks I am an amazing woman. Thanks for helping me earn that title.
The roasted veggies were so tasty by themselves so the whole dish was excellent and flavors were perfect! Didnโt have the tomatoes so made the super simple marinara sauce instead and it worked perfectly!
I made this recipe, minus the pasta for a โbring a dishโ dinner. I have made ratatouille many times but never roasted in the oven. It was the best of all the recipes Iโve made and the diners at our dinner all raved about it. I think the charm is in roasting in the oven rather than preparing it stovetop. This is now my go to recipe for ratatouille. Thank you Kate!
This was delicious. I am not a huge fan of tomatoes not of eggplant, but we had been given some from a family memberโs garden and didnโt want them to go to waste. Loved every bite!
Thatโs great, Allison! Iโm happy you were able to enjoy them.
Surprisingly delicious. I had to bake the veggies a little longer because i canโt stand under cooked eggplant but it was very very good! Thanks.
Youโre welcome, Sue! Iโm happy you enjoyed it.
This is my #1 favorite recipe for summer veggies. Iโve been making it for years since you first posted it. Even meat lovers devour it! I go heavy on the onion and garlic. Dried basil is fine if you donโt have fresh, but fresh herbs kick the flavor up a notch! Roasted cherry tomatoes as a pasta sauce is brilliant. I equally like the vegan parm from Minimalist Baker or real Parmesan cheese, but agree itโs still yummy without any cheese. I love the subtle kick of the red pepper flakes but leave it out if guests are averse to heat (then sprinkle it on my own plate). Iโd give more than five stars if I could!
I love that! Thank you for sharing, Lauren.
Just made this for dinner and it was super easy and delicious! I loved the flavours of all of the roasted vegetables together with the herbs and pasta. It is so simple yet so tasty. I have never tried squash so that was the only thing I left out. I also did not really understand what pints of tomatoes were. Cups or grams would have been easier to interpret but I just made a guess and it turned out well in the end.
I canโt believe I havenโt made this before tonight; it is so, so good! Used gluten free pasta and garden fresh veggies and herbs. Wow, so flavorful and satisfying with a simple side salad.
Thanks for all your wonderfully delicious recipes! I share them with everyone and by now they all knowingly ask, โCookie and Kate, right?โ when a dish is shared. Youโre a star!
WOW! This was outstanding. Rave reviews from my Italian Husband and โfoodieโ daughter. If it was this delicious with winter veggies ( imported) I canโt begin to imagine it with summer garden or market hauls. We love that this can be served to vegetarian/vegan friends.
What is your suggested size to dice the veggies?
Hi Carolyn! I would suggest 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch cubes. Iโm glad you loved it!
Iโve made this recipe about 10 times in the last year and I will never get sick of it. Itโs not only my favourite recipe, but also my favourite food in the world. I could literally eat it every day. I make it without the squash because I can never find that and itโs perfect. I would be a different person if this recipe didnโt exist, seriously.
I love that, Sarah! Thank you for sharing.
Delicious! Forgot the yellow squash and wouldโve been great with Parmesan, but a wonderful quick and inexpensive summer meal! Used spinach tagiatelli.
This is hands down one of my favorite dishes and recipes to make especially when the veggies are in season. This is soooo delicious!!
Wonderful to hear, Alex!
Hi Kate,
Thank you for a delicious recipe! I didnโt have enough cherry tomatoes, so I substituted with Jovial jarred. I also used dry herbs (didnโt have fresh) and sprinkled fresh Italian leaf parsley at the end. My husband ate it with farro, but I had spaghetti. I use organic and we are both vegetarians. This is a new favorite!
Deena