Creamy Spaghetti with Roasted Spring Vegetables

Name: Creamy Spaghetti with Roasted Spring Vegetables
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Ingredients: 8 oz Barilla "Plus Protein" Spaghetti; 3 cups cherry tomatoes; 1 red onion; 1 bunch asparagus; 1 tsp kosher salt; 1 tsp Italian seasoning; olive oil spray; 1/4 cup reduced-fat garlic and herb Alouette cheese; 1/4 cup basil (fresh, chopped)

June 25, 2021 By Steph 34 Comments

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Creamy spaghetti with roasted spring vegetables is so simple to make, but hearty and healthy. Roasted asparagus, cherry tomatoes and red onion create a flavorful vegetable medley to accompany spaghetti. This dish becomes heavenly with the addition of garlic and herb cheese spread which packs flavor and adds a creamy consistency. Serve warm, room temperature, or even straight from the fridge for a satisfying and healthy meal made with all real ingredients and fresh flavors. This dish makes a perfect meal prep when paired with a lean protein like grilled chicken.

All about this creamy spaghetti with roasted spring vegetables

The background of this recipe

If you couldn’t tell, I am on quite the roasted and grilled vegetable kick lately. There’s something about the warm weather that makes me crave vegetables like this; they don’t necessarily have to be heated up to be enjoyed, and they just add such great flavor and nutrients to any dish.

My most recent recipes featuring grilled and roasted vegetables can be found here:

Grilled Vegetable Farro Salad and Chicken

Grilled Vegetable and Egg Wraps

Pasta Salad with Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette

As for this recipe, this is an older recipe of mine that I never wrote up an actual recipe for on the blog. I made it one week a few years ago for my lunch meal prep, and it was filling and delicious. It also became pretty popular; so I figured it was time to get it written down.

Features of this recipe

This recipe features some of my favorite vegetables, roasted with delicious Italian seasoning: cherry tomatoes, asparagus, and red onion. Once roasted, these vegetables take on totally different flavor profiles. The cherry tomatoes blister and pop, and begin to release their juices, which later helps bring the pasta dish together. Roasted asparagus is probably one of my go-to vegetables, because it becomes crispy and delicious. And finally, roasted red onion (you’ll see that a lot here); when red onion is roasted, it becomes sweet and smoky, and totally different from the strong flavor it has when its raw (although I love that flavor too!)

Other components of this dish are simple: protein-packed spaghetti (more about that later) and creamy, garlic and herb cheese spread. When it’s all put together, it makes for a delicious dish.

What will I need to make this recipe?

Here’s a recap of what you’ll need to create this recipe at home:

cherry tomatoes
asparagus
red onion
Italian seasoning
kosher salt
protein pasta
- You can use regular pasta, but I recently tried this brand and love it. You can not tell the difference between this and regular pasta, but the macros are more favorable. It is lower calorie per serving, and it also has more protein and fiber. I like using this because it’s more nutrient dense, and will keep you fuller longer.
- If you do not use this kind of pasta, make sure to recalculate the macros for this recipe to account for the pasta you use.
reduced-fat garlic and herb cheese spread
fresh basil

creamy spaghetti with roasted spring vegetables

As you can tell, this is not a huge ingredient list at all. I love that! You can also add whatever vegetables you enjoy, and you can easily double this recipe to use an entire box of pasta and an entire container of the cheese spread.

How to make creamy spaghetti with roasted spring vegetables

To make this recipe, start off by preheating your oven to 400F to roast the vegetables. Next, grab a large sheet pan. Trim the ends off the asparagus, and then cut the asparagus into 1″ pieces. Chop the red onion. Add the cherry tomatoes to the sheet pan along with the chopped asparagus and red onion. Spray the vegetables with olive oil spray, and then sprinkle them with the kosher salt and Italian seasoning. Roast for 35 minutes.

While the vegetables roast, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta according to package directions.

Once the pasta is cooked, drain it and add it back to the pot along with the roasted vegetables. Finally, stir in the garlic and herb cheese and the fresh basil.

Serve this pasta alone, or with a lean grilled protein like chicken or shrimp.