This recipe is made even more delicious with 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar added to the olive oil when coating the vegetables and another added to the pesto dressing. Try this if balsamic vinegar is an acceptable ingredient. If you do not like pesto sauce, Tomato Sauce (page 132 of my book) would make a good alternative.

1. Place the olive oil in a large bowl. Crush the garlic cloves and add to the bowl along with a little salt and black pepper.
2. Cut the onions into halves, the courgettes and carrots into chunks, the sweet pepper into 8 pieces, the fennel into 8 segments and the aubergine into l cm (½in) slices.
3. Place the vegetables in the bowl containing the olive oil and garlic and toss until well coated. Place the vegetables on 2 greased baking trays and bake in a preheated 2oo°C (4oo°F), gas mark 6 oven for 30-40 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked and beginning to brown.
4. Cook the pasta according to the instructions and keep warm.
5. Prepare the pesto dressing by placing all the ingredients in a food processor and processing until the sauce is smooth.  If you do not have a food processor, finely chop the basil, shallots and garlic and use ground almonds instead of toasted almonds.  Mix to combine.
6. Serve the roasted vegetables piled on top of the pasta with the pesto sauce drizzled over. Serve with salad if desired.