Happy June and Happy Pride Month, beautiful people! LOVE is the best ingredient and love for all is served here. We were challenged to show our true colours this month, so it’s a no-brainer one of the ways will be showing pride in food and bringing lots of colour to our meals! June is a month full of celebrations in our family, and also one that brought great sorrow, but if life has taught me anything, it’s that to appreciate the rainbows we must also learn to hold steady through the storms. Making, shooting and sharing some of our favourite family recipes more over the last year has brought some culinary calm and joy through perpetual uncertainty and we appreciate your love & support so very much. When thinking of a meal that celebrates family, food and LOVE, one that combines the beauty of fresh local ingredients with inspiration from Italian cuisine felt most right. June is also Italian Heritage Month, and my Italian roots and welcoming everyone to our family table growing up is something I’m deeply proud of and a big part of who I am. One of my favourite recipe types is one that renders a 3-in-1 trinity of options from one cook fest. With one large batch of our Sheet Pan Roasted Vegetables you can make 3 delicious, easy and colourful recipes – 1) Rainbow Crostini; 2) Pasta Primavera; and 3) Spring Mix Salad! We hope you’ll join us in bringing some colour to your Cucinas this month!
One sheet pan veg batch renders a trinity of beautiful food courses – a Rainbow Crostini Board, Pasta Primavera & Spring Mix Salad! Buon appetito a tutti!
About the Ingredients for Rainbow Crostini, Pasta and Salad
- We used local farm fresh veggies for these recipes and with so many in-season you shouldn’t have trouble finding one in every colour (except blue! That was tough!). For RED, we used tomatoes and red bell peppers. ORANGE – bell peppers. YELLOW – bell peppers and yellow tomatoes. GREEN – asparagus and zucchini. BLUE – couldn’t find blue veg, but you could use blueberries or fake it til’ you bake it with a blend of…PURPLE – aubergine, red onion and beets.
- Crostini, meaning “little toasts” in Italian, are small, thin slices of bread toasted then topped with a combo of cheeses, vegetables, herbs and cured meats. We made our homemade crostini using sliced Calabrese bread – a little larger than typical Crostino size you’d get from slicing fresh baguette. For a short cut, you could also use store-bought mini baguettes or simply toast your bread in the toaster! For the cheese layer on top, we used a combo of sliced cocktail bocconcini, Buffalo Mozzarella and our homemade Herbed Ricotta cheese.
A Rainbow Crostini Board with a dose of L-O-V-E for your Summer/Pride celebrations!
- For the Pasta Primavera (meaning “Spring” in Italian), we used the kids favourite Rainbow Veggie Farfalle (“bow tie” pasta), but use whatever short pasta type you please!
Rainbow Farfalle (bow tie pasta) is the perfect choice for Pasta Primavera!
- For the Salad, we simply mixed the roasted veggies with fresh Spring Mix, sprinkled some feta (you could also used fresh goat cheese, Buffalo mozzarella or cocktail bocconcini) then dressed with a homemade balsamic vinaigrette (RECIPE: 3 parts olive oil, 2 parts balsamic vinegar, ~ 2 tsp Dijon Mustard, 1 minced clove of garlic, a few pinches dried Italian herbs and salt + pepper). The salad was shared last with intention, as in Italian culture, the salad is eaten after the main course to aid with digestion & prepare the palate for vino! Va bene!
Rainbow Roasted Vegetable Spring Mix Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette – delizioso!
Sheet Pan Roasted Vegetables, Rainbow Crostini, Pasta Primavera & Spring Salad | La Cucina di Kerrs
Equipment
- Large baking sheet
Ingredients
Sheet Pan Roasted Rainbow Vegetables
- 1 each Red, orange & yellow bell peppers Washed, seeded & chopped
- 1 medium zucchini Washed & sliced
- 1 medium aubergine (eggplant) Washed & chopped in cubes
- 1 bunch Red and yellow tomatoes *any - washed & sliced in halves*
- 1 bunch Asparagus *washed, woody ends sniped & spears cut into thirds*
- 2 medium Beets *washed, peeled & chopped into cubes*
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil *enough to drizzle over top of your batch of veggies to nicely coat them*
- Italiano Seasoning *to taste; we use ClubHouse*
- Garlic Powder *to tasted*
- Coarse salt & ground black pepper *to taste*
Rainbow Crostini Board
- Sliced Calabrese or fresh Italian Bread *we made 6 slices*
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil *enough to brush a light coating on each bread slice*
- Garlic powder *or fresh garlic clove sliced in half*
- Salt & pepper *to taste*
- Fresh greens for garnish *we used fresh basil, arugula & microgreens*
- 1 ball Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella sliced
- 1 handful Cocktail Bocconcini sliced
- Pesto *optional*
Homemade Herbed Ricotta
- 475 g Ricotta Cheese *we used light version*
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2-4 basil leaves chopped; you can also used dried basil here.
- Salt & pepper to taste
Rainbow Pasta Primavera
- 1 box/bag Rainbow Farfalle (bow tie) Pasta
- Olive Oil
- Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese *to taste*
- ½ medium lemon
- A portion of your sheet pan roasted veggies
Rainbow Roasted Vegetable Spring Salad
- Spring Mix Salad *we use pre-washed, ready-to-eat version*
- A portion of the sheet pan roasted veggies
- Crumbled Feta *we used an in-brine version; you could also use goat cheese or bocconcini instead*
- Balsamic Vinaigrette *our homemade version (*see "About the Ingredients" section of blog post*) or store-bought*
Instructions
Sheet Pan Roasted Rainbow Vegetables
- Preheat your oven to 400°F. Rinse, peel & chop all your vegetables. Line up on a sheet pan by colour category - Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue/Purple. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle Italiano seasoning, garlic powder and salt + pepper over top, to taste.
- Bake on middle oven rack for approx. 20 minutes or until desired tenderness. The beets will need about 10 minutes longer.
Rainbow Crostini Board
- Brush a light coating of olive oil on each slice of bread. Rub fresh garlic around the surface of the bread or sprinkle a bit of garlic powder. Add a few pinches of flake/coarse salt to each slice. Bake on a sheet pan at 400°F approx. 8 minutes.
- Top each crostino with your cheese of choice - either the herbed ricotta, sliced mozzarella or bocconcini. Then, add your colourful roasted vegetables, each toast a different colour. Line up on a food board in the colour order of a rainbow - Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue/Purple. If you want to mark your board with some L-O-V-E, grab your mini alphabet food cutters and punch out your message in a slice of mozzarella cheese. Garnish your rainbow crostini with fresh greens - arugula, basil and/or microgreens. That's it! Buon appetito!
Rainbow Pasta Primavera
- Bring 1 large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta in a strainer, reserving a bit of pasta water. Add your pasta to a serving platter & drizzle a bit of olive oil over top - mix. Add your roasted veggies, some Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese & a few squeezes of fresh lemon. Toss & serve immediately! Buon appetito!
Rainbow Roasted Vegetable Spring Salad
- Add your Spring Mix to a salad serving bowl. Toss in the remainder of your sheet pan roasted veggies & dress with your balsamic vinaigrette to taste. Mix well, then sprinkle some feta, goat or bocconcini cheese over top. That's it! Enjoy!
Notes
One batch of sheet pan roasted veg renders a trinity of beautiful food courses - A Rainbow Crostini board, Pasta Primavera & Spring Salad! Buon appetito!
And there you have it! A beautiful, delicious, colour-popping 3-course Italian meal – Antipasti, Primi & Insalata – from one sheet pan recipe!
More Colourful Recipes to Celebrate Family, Food & LOVE
If you enjoyed our Rainbow Crostini, Pasta & Salad, we think you’ll enjoy these simple & bright recipes too:
Caprese Salad D’amore
Greek Pasta Salad
Grilled Haullomi Grain Bowl
Zucchini Pizza Bianca
However you’re showing your pride this month, we wish you a beautiful one! Love & light all around! If you try one of our eat-the-rainbow inspired recipes, share your creations with us! Buon appetito a tutti!
Keep well, eat well,
Love the crostini idea. Lots of fun times ahead for good summer eating.