This Barilla Pasta is made with tasty grilled vegetables using red lentil rotini pasta. With mostly natural ingredients, this vegetable pasta salad is the perfect Italian recipe to feed the whole family or for date night.
Disclosure – Barilla originally sponsored this post. All opinions in here are mine. Originally published on January 30th, 2019, and updated on April 14th, 2021.
Tips for Making This Pasta
- Use cooking spray to grill the veggies. It will grill them perfectly without an oily taste.
- Add the buttery sauce about 30 minutes before you are going to serve it. This will give it a chance to marinate all the ingredients.
- You can use any fresh veggies that you have in your refrigerator and that’s in season. I love using bell peppers and yellow peppers, but I didn’t have them on hand.
- Don’t forget the capers! They add a delicious tang to the recipe and it really brings out the flavors of the red lentil pasta itself.
- Use dry-packed sun-dried tomatoes instead of the in-oil type of tomatoes.
- Cook your pasta to al dente and then add the buttery sauce about 30 minutes before you are going to serve it. This will give the sauce a chance to marinate and soften the pasta.
Making the rich sauce!
The sauce is made with very tasty ingredients. I used a combination of my fresh herb vegan butter sauce from my casarecce pasta and the rich vegan buttery sun-dried tomatoes from my fingerling potatoes recipe.
The fresh herbs are the star of the delicate sauce because they bring flavor, aroma, and color to the sauce. Fresh basil, fresh parsley, fresh parsley, and even fresh tarragon would work.
The base of this pasta sauce is BUTTER!! I have used vegan butter and I have used grass-fed butter. The latter is my favorite way to make this pasta and it gives this pasta a true flavor of the Mediterranean.
Occasionally, I do like a creamy sauce with pasta. One of my favorites is this sun dried tomato pasta recipe by Iheartvegetables.com. Basically, a sauce with a delicious mix of sweet Italian tomatoes will work as a sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sadly, it’s not low carb. The type of pasta I used is red lentil rotini pasta has 34g of total carbs (per 2oz serving). After counting the 6g of fiber, it comes out to 28g of net carbs. Clearly, that’s not low-carb. I have heard that it’s complex carb, so it won’t quickly spike your blood sugars. Please consult your Nutritionist for more accurate nutritional information.
Yes, it’s the same. Boil a large pot of water on medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil plus the pasta. Once the pasta is cooked (about 7 minutes), drain the pasta. You can save about 1/4 cup of the cooking water to add to the pasta, but it’s not necessary. The good news is that it’s made with just one ingredient and has no added preservatives.
I used only cherry tomatoes. But, you can use a delicious combination of Italian tomatoes. Use grape tomatoes, Campari tomatoes, or Roma tomatoes. I don’t recommend using tomato concentrate.
If you don’t have an outdoor grill, use a stove-top grill. That’s what I did! It’s convenient and easy to use. Use avocado oil or extra virgin olive oil to grill them. My favorite is this (Affiliate Link) Calaphon grill. Or, you can use sheet pan roasted vegetables in the oven. Don’t forget to use a baking sheet.
It’s available in your grocery store and big box stores. You can also buy it at any online supermarket or go to Barilla’s site to find a location near you.
I have another butter that you can use in this recipe. Try my lemon balm butter with garlic to enhance your taste experience.
How to serve this pasta
I love to take this pasta to picnics, outdoor gatherings, and BBQ parties. It’s got that summery feel. Once I served it on date night, when we had dinner in the backyard. It was a huge hit!
My friends love dipping garlic bread or even dinner rolls in the sauce. It’s also a great side dish to main course meals.
This pasta dish doesn’t freeze well, so make it on the day you want to serve it. Refrigerate leftovers and eat them up within 2-3 days.
More Pasta Dishes
If you love delicious pasta meals, take a look at some of these tasty options! All these pastas are made with simple ingredients.
- Lemon Orzo Pasta
- Pasta primavera with bell peppers
- Penne Pasta with Mushrooms
- Vegan Orecchiette Pasta with Basil Pesto
There is a delicious vegan pasta bake by Veggie Inspired that I know you guys will love. It’s easy to make and hits the spot!
You can also add this olive salad to the pasta. Adds a natural tang and saltiness to the pasta.
Sharing is caring
Don’t be shy, chime in below in the comments. Let me hear your opinion on this Barilla Pasta with Grilled Vegetables recipe. If you enjoyed this, please give it 5 stars and share it on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and Instagram.
Vegan Pasta With Grilled Veggies
Ingredients
For the Pasta
- 1 cup red lentil pasta uncooked
- 1/4 tsp salt
- water to boil the pasta
For The Grilled Veggies
- 1/2 cucumber cut into half rounds
- 4 mini sweet peppers de-seeded and cut into halves
- 1/4 red onion julienne
- 1/4 cup beets julienne, from a can
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes halved, I used different colored tomatoes
- 3 radishes thinly sliced
- 1/2 small avocado thinly sliced strips
For the Sauce
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes julienne
- 1/4 cup fresh basil finely chopped
- 7 leaves mint finely chopped
- 1/2 cup curly parsley finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- cooking spray
For Garnish
- 2 Tbsp capers
- cilantro optional
- panko bread crumbs optional
Instructions
To Cook the Pasta
- Bring water to a boil
- Add salt and pasta
- Cook for 9 minutes and then drain, set aside
To Grill the Veggies
- Heat your stove top grill for about 3 min on medium heat
- Spray it with cooking spray
- Add the veggies to the grill and grill each side
- You can grill one veggie at a time or cook them all together
- Place grilled veggies in a bowl
- Add the cooked pasta to the bowl
For the sauce
- Heat a medium saucepan and add the vegan butter
- When it melts, add the garlic and let it brown for 30 sec
- Add the oil, fresh herbs and sun-dried tomatoes
- Mix well and cook for about 2 minutes on medium heat
- Drizzle sauce over the bowl of pasta and grilled veggies
- Mix well and set aside for 30 minutes
- Serve with garlic bread or by itself
Notes
Nutrition
Update Notes: This post was originally published in January 2019 and updated in April 2021. On January 12th, 2024, it was re-written to be more concise.
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