Fregola is a type of Sardinian pasta made with a semolina dough that has been rolled into balls 2–3 mm in diameter and toasted in an oven. Usually it’s cooked in a tomato-based sauce and served with clams.
Today I used it to prepare a delicious fregola salad with lots of roasted veggies, super healthy but very easy to prepare.
Fregola with roasted vegetables
Ingredients
- For the vegetables
- Sardinian fregola: 500 grams
- peppers red: 2
- peppers yellow : 2
- aubergines: 2
- courgettes big : 3
- cherry tomatoes: 10
- red onions small : 3
- heads of garlic: 2
- extra virgin olive oil (as needed)
- salt (to taste)
- pepper (to taste)
- For the pesto
- fresh basil leaves: 60 grams
- extra virgin olive oil: 100 grams
- Parmesan cheese freshly grated: 60 grams
- Pecorino cheese freshly grated : 30 grams
- almond flakes toasted: 30 grams
- coarse sea salt (few grain)
Instructions
- Cook the fregola in salted boiling water for the time suggested on the package (usually about 8/10 minutes). Drain it, drizzle with oil and mix with a fork to separate all the grains. Set aside to cool down.
- Cut the peppers, aubergines and courgettes into big chunks (about 3/4 cm). Peel the onions and cut it into quarters. Trim about 1/2 cm off the top of the heads of garlic to expose the garlic cloves. Put all the cut vegetables with cherry tomatoes, onions and garlic into a large baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake in the preheated oven at 180° C for about 40 minutes until golden and tender.
- Mix the fregola with all the vegetables keeping the garlic aside.
- Prepare the pesto using a food processor (or if you have a pestle and mortar): put the garlic (2 cloves taken from the oven baked heads of garlic) and a pinch of coarse salt and start processing/pounding, add the almonds then a little bit of basil leaves at a time. Once you have a creamy consistency add the cheese and finally slowly pour the oil while processing/pounding. Have a taste and if it's necessary add a little bit of salt.
- Serve the fregola adding a spoonful of pesto on each plate.
