Roasted Vegetable Pasta with Ricotta

Aubergine has a reputation for soaking up oil like a sponge, and it is true. The trick that makes this pasta work is letting the chopped aubergine and the halved baby courgettes sit in a hot oven long enough to collapse and char at the edges. Once that happens, they taste almost jammy, and you need very little oil to get there. A teaspoon of olive oil and a splash of balsamic is all this dish asks for, which is one reason it feels rich without being heavy.

Aubergine is a member of the nightshade family, the same family as tomatoes and peppers, and it is mostly water, so it shrinks a lot as it cooks. That is why the 250g of aubergine and the 400g of courgettes look like a generous pile in the dish and then settle into something much smaller. Don't be tempted to crowd the tin. If the vegetables are piled on top of each other they steam and go grey instead of browning, and the balsamic ends up tasting flat. Two shallow dishes are better than one deep one.

The ricotta is doing a quiet job. Stirred through hot pasta with a spoonful of the cooking water, it turns creamy without any cream, and it cools the sweetness of the roasted vegetables. If you want the sauce looser, add a little more of that starchy water a splash at a time. Keep the pine nuts for the very end, scattered on top, so they stay crisp. They go from toasted to bitter quite fast if you leave them in a hot pan.

Leftovers keep well in a sealed container in the fridge for a day or two. The pasta firms up, so reheat it gently with a splash of water in a covered pan, or eat it cold the next day with a handful of fresh basil. The roasted vegetables also make a good spread on toast with a little ricotta, if you have any left over from the pasta.

This is a weeknight dish that suits a simple side. A plate of peppery rocket with lemon juice cuts through the sweetness of the vegetables nicely. If you want something warmer and more filling alongside it, the Golden Garlic Spinach with Currants and Pine Nuts repeats the pine nut and garlic idea in a green, slightly sweet side. For a heartier table, the Roasted Vegetable Fettuccine with Toasted Pecans takes the same roasted-vegetable idea in a different direction.