Stranger Foods
Photograph of Fusilli all’ortolana.

ItalianFusilli all’ortolana

Serves 4    |     Prep 15 mins     |     Cook 30 mins

This vegetarian pasta takes me back to my nonna’s garden. Each day during summer holidays, my brother, Agostino, and I would wake up early to pick Nonna’s ripe peppers, eggplants, tomatoes, and zucchini, which felt warm beneath our fingertips after weeks of maturing under the blazing Neapolitan sun. These memories bring the same joy I have picking vegetables with my own children in our garden under the Florida sunshine. What I love most about this dish—aside from the nostalgia it brings flooding back—is that it is so flexible. You can make it your own with what’s in season no matter where you are and any time of the year, even in the winter, substituting winter squashes and bitter greens for the summery medley below. Cook the vegetables in stages so they all finish cooking at the same time—knowing how to time this perfectly comes with practice, but one bite of this dish and I know you’ll be hooked and up for the challenge.

Source: The Pasta Queen

Ingredients

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  • 1 small red onion, diced
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 1 stalk celery, diced
  • Sea salt
  • ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 red bell pepper, cut into ½ inch-wide strips
  • 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into ½ inch-wide strips
  • 2 small zucchini, cut into ½ inch-wide strips
  • 8 oz grape tomatoes, halved
  • 1 small eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch-wide × 3 inch-long strips
  • 1 lb fusilli
  • 6 leaves fresh basil, torn, plus more leaves for garnish

Instructions

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