The smell of garlic roasting in the oven is like heaven. And the taste – like candy. I had left-over vegetables and ricotta cheese from when I made the vegetable lasagne, so I whipped up this easy pasta dish that has so much flavor and pure “comfort” appeal.

At this point I should probably break the news to you that I am not going to always include exact recipes in every post. I rarely follow recipes. I often just use what I have in my cabinets, ‘fridge, and head. Cooking is not an exact science, and the more you do it the more you just “know” what and how much is needed.

For this creamy pasta dish, I first roasted zucchini and eggplant in a 400º oven. In a separate dish, I roasted a few cloves of garlic coated in olive oil, salt and pepper. Meanwhile I cooked the rigatoni and reserved some of the salty, starchy cooking liquid. When the garlic was soft and caramelized, I squeezed it out of the skin into a bowl with about 1 cup of ricotta cheese and 1/4 cup grated parmesan. Using a fork I mashed the roasted garlic into the cheeses and added some of the reserved cooking liquid to make more of a sauce. To that I added the pasta, some chopped basil, salt, pepper and the roasted vegetables. You’re going to love this one.