An Easy Pasta Traybake to Feed the Masses, and a Warming Roast Tomato & Butternut Soup with Spiced Yoghurt
Plus a how-to-video showing you exactly how to string your homegrown onions
It is certainly getting cooler at night here in New Zealand and more and more we are steering away from summery light food and instead leaning into warming comfort foods, so today I wanted to share two of my favourites. The first is a simple Autumn Pasta Traybake which is a great dish to make when you are short on time and need a quick meal that will feed the masses, plus it is adaptable to any season by just changing up the variety of vegetables. The second is a warming Roasted Tomato and Butternut Soup which I like to serve with Spiced Yoghurt. If you don’t quite have the assortment of ingredients aligned yet to make this, save the recipe somewhere so you can make it when you do - its a goodie!
Autumn Vegetable Pasta Traybake
This traybake pasta is simple to make, with no sauce simmering required, and you can easily adapt it throughout the seasons by using whatever vegetables you have on hand, with the ratios for hard and soft just being a rough guide.
Likewise, if you have no basil but want to stir through another fresh herb such as Italian parsley or chives, go for it - experimentation is encouraged! Just try to make sure you stick to the amount of tomatoes specified as they are what will give your pasta a tangy rich juiciness.
If you are using beetroot (by the way if you have never tried beetroot and tomato together, you should as they complement each other extremely well) save the tops to use instead of spinach to stir through at the end.
Serve 5-6
Ingredients
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
600 grams / 4 heaped cups chopped hard vegetables (beetroot, pumpkin, carrot, kumara etc), cut into wedges
200 grams / 2 heaped cups chopped aubergine or zucchini (red capsicum is nice added here too)
1 large red onion, skinned, sliced in half then into 8 wedges
800 grams small fresh tomatoes, cut in half
1 large sprig of fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon smoked paprika (sweet paprika will do if you don’t have smoked)
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 cup spinach OR beetroot leaves
Handful of fresh basil
200 grams feta
250 grams penne pasta
Method
Preheat oven to 200.C
Put the oil, vegetables, onion and tomatoes into a large oven roasting tray – you want to use one of those metal ones, as you will be putting it directly onto an element later in the recipe. Sprinkle over the fresh rosemary, cumin seeds and paprika adding a decent pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Gently mix using your fingertips until all the vegetables are coated in oil and seasoning. Spread into a single layer and place into the oven.
After 25 minutes, flip the vegetables. Place the block of feta on the tray too, clearing a space in the middle so it fits in. Top the cheese with an extra splash of olive oil and a grind of pepper. Sprinkle the garlic over the feta and vegetables and return the tray to the oven for another 30 – 40 minutes (you may need to turn them again), until the vegetables are beginning to caramelise and the feta is sizzling and browning on the bottom.
When the vegetables are at the final stages of roasting, put a large pot of salted water on to boil and cook the pasta per the directions on the packet until al dente. Save a cup of pasta water before draining the pasta in a colander.
Remove the roasting tray from the oven and place it on an element on the stove. Remove the feta and set it aside, then turn the element on to medium heat. Add ¼ cup or so of pasta water and glaze the pan, scraping the bottom and mixing the roasting juices into the water to create a bit of a sauce. Try not to mush the roast vegetables up as you do this.
Add the pasta, leafy greens, fresh basil, and remaining pasta water. Continue to cook for a further minute or so, mixing well so all the pasta is coated in sauce and the greens are wilted.
Turn off the heat and sprinkle over the feta, gently stirring it through. If you are feeling fancy you can transfer the pasta to a serving dish, but if you want to save on dishes just top with a good glug of olive oil and freshly ground black pepper and serve up from the oven tray. I don’t tend to add salt as the feta is salty enough, but feel free to season to your liking if need be.
Roasted Tomato and Butternut Soup with Spiced Yoghurt
The combination rich butternut, tangy tomatoes and poblanos chilis all roasted together creates a lovely smokey soup with just a touch of heat. If you don’t have poblano chili, you could use jalapeno or any other large mild chili. Alternatively for a non spicy variation you can use red capsicum which gives a lovely flavour too.
Serves 6-8
Ingredients
For the soup
4 tablespoons oil
800 grams butternut, keep the skin on and chopped into medium sized chunks
1.2 kilograms fresh tomatoes, cut into halves
3 – 4 poblano chilis, or 1 large red capsicum, halved, deseeded and cut into large pieces
2 large sprigs of rosemary
Handful of fresh sage, chopped
Salt and cracked black pepper
1 red onion, finely diced
3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
25 grams butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 – 2 ½ cups water
1 tablespoon honey
For the spiced yoghurt
6 tablespoons unsweetened yoghurt
half a red poblano chili or chili of choice, seeds removed, minced
Optional topping:
a dollop of harissa
Method
Preheat your oven to 190C
Place the butternut pieces, the halved tomatoes and the deseeded and chopped chilis or capsicum onto a large oven tray and drizzle the rice bran oil over top. Pull the rosemary leaves off the stalks and add to the vegetables along with the sage. Season well with salt and cracked black pepper and mix through with the tips of your fingers.
Bake for 45 minutes or until the vegetables are nice and caramelised stirring half way through – the caramelisation is what is going to give the soup it’s rich smoky flavour.
Heat a large heavy based pot to medium and melt the butter. Add the red onion and garlic, lightly salt and gently sauté for a few minutes until the onion is cooked through.
Add the roasted vegetables along with all the juices from the oven tray. Pour in two cups of the water, place the lid on the pot and bring to the boil. Give it a stir and simmer for 5 more minutes with the lid on.
Remove the soup from the heat and blend with a hand blender until silky smooth, being careful not to burn yourself. If the soup is too thick add the remaining water and stir through.
To make the spiced yoghurt combine the yoghurt and fresh chili together in a small bowl. Season with a pinch each of salt and pepper. Serve on top of the soup, along with a dollop of harissa if you have it, and freshly chopped Italian parsley.
Stringing Red Onions
I grow red onions throughout the year in our garden, but late summer / autumn is definitely when the biggest onions come to fruition, and when I need to think about storage over winter. I get people asking me how to string their homegrown onions, so I made this video awhile ago to demonstrate. And underneath is the step-by-step instructions.
Let me know if this helps you too!
Step 1: Drying – After harvest, I lay my onions on a clothing rack in a breezy, covered space away from direct sunlight, until the stems are beginning to lose their colour. This step toughens the skins, prevents rot and extends storage time.
Step 2: Prepping – Once dried, I trim the roots, being careful not to cut too close to the base, and then trim the tops to about 20 cm long - the perfect length for stringing.
Step 3: Setting Up – I hammer a small nail into a sturdy post and tie a loop of string onto it—this will hold the bunch of onions so make sure it is long enough.
Step 4: Weaving the Onions – Starting with the largest onions at the bottom, I carefully weave each stem in and out of the string tightly so they stay secure., I layer them largest at the bottom and smallest at the top.
Step 5: Finishing Touches – I trim any loose ends, and hang the strung onions in my kitchen, out of the sun but on hand for when I need them.
If you found todays newsletter useful please like it and share it with a friend - this will ensure even more people get inspired in the kitchen and garden. And don’t be shy - feel free to leave a comment if you try out either of these recipes - I would love to hear how they work out for you!
~ Aby x