This ratatouille pasta salad is one of those dishes that I’ve made for years and that I could put together in my sleep, but that I probably would never consider cooking for other people because it just seems too… easy? Simple? Or something? I feel like a lot of us have at least one of those – something we personally love and rely on, but that we wouldn’t think to share with others. I can’t even count on two hands how many recipes have not seen the light of day on this blog because I considered them too obvious!! Silly silly.

So I’ve decided to get out of my own way today and share this, because I’ve been making it (and variations – I’ll get to that in a second) for absolutely ages, and in my heart it never goes out of style.

The first time I ever roasted this combination of veggies together was at my first job. I worked at a little café off the Danforth in Toronto, and because the place was quite small and relatively new at the time, I got to do a bit of everything – including cooking! One of the items on the menu was a roasted veggie wrap. This wrap was one of the heavenliest things I had ever tried – a base of cream cheese, tons and tons of deliciously buttery roasted veggies, and a sprinkle of feta, lovingly wrapped and grilled on a sandwich press. HEAVEN!!

At the time, everything I knew about cooking came from Food Network (which I watched religiously) and a few failed baking experiments, so I approached every task with great concern and reverence. I would look in on the veggies every 5 minutes to make sure they were ok, basically doubling the cooking time in the process, and I was super anxious about the slightest hint of browning. How things have changed!!

All of that to say that I’ve never stopped loving this combination, and I’ll throw these roasted veggies into pretty much anything. Sandwiches, tarts, couscous, pasta, pizza… oh baby. But today I’m sharing the simplest version I know: and that’s this pasta salad. I’m including a full recipe below, but if you have a favourite way of roasting your veggies then who am I to tell you to do it differently?! :p

This is such a great make-ahead meal, as the veggies won’t dry out and the pasta actually absorbs some of their oil, which acts as a sort of second dressing. You could easily make a big batch of this and take it to work all week (a trusty fave when I worked in an office), or bring it to a picnic!

And P.S. Feta would be really good here in here too. Just saying.