Baked Penne With Roasted Veggies and Cheese

I had a hankerin' for roasted veggie pasta a couple days ago and then everywhere I turned, someone was making it.  Clearly the universe was trying to tell me something.  So that's what came out of the kitchen tonight.  To see two that had me drooling, head over to my Dinners Pinterest board.  Yum yum!

My sister made grilled veggie pasta one night for dinner that I did not partake in, but I was lucky enough to consume the next day's concoction.  She put the leftover veggies in the food processor and pulsed them so they were broken down, but still chunky.  Then she served that on an appetizer platter with goat cheese and bread.  Pee your pants good.  So I stole her recipe for the dressing she whipped up to toss the veggies in.

Here's her recipe:

Roasted Veggies  

6 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (I subbed bottled)
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp olive oil
1/4 tsp kosher salt
2 minced garlic cloves

Stir together all ingredients to combine.

For tonight's pasta, I picked what I had in the garden and supplemented with things I had in the fridge.  I used two small eggplant, green beans, two small onions, a head and a half of garlic cloves, chard stems, one red bell pepper and six small tomatoes.

I chopped everything up, tossed them with half of the dressing, excluding the tomatoes, and spread them out on a baking sheet.  

I roasted them at 400 for 20 minutes.

My plan was to add fresh herbs to the mix.  

I had rosemary, thyme and basil.  

Unfortunately, I forgot.

After 20 minutes, I added the tomatoes and the rest of the dressing, threw them back in the oven and cooked for another 12 minutes.

Meanwhile, I cooked up a pound of penne rigate.

Once the pasta was drained, I stirred in a couple spoonfuls of cream cheese, a handful of shredded mozzarella and some feta.  

Again, I'm nothing if not excessive.

I added the roasted veggies and a small amount of olive oil to get everything combined.  

I put the pasta in a baking dish, sprinkled on some more mozzarella and some Parmesan (don't judge me).

Then it went into the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes.

Fresh basil for our plates and some pita bread with oil and vinegar for dunkin'.

Here's dinner on my plate: