Grilled Veggie Ragu..perfect for Rigatoni Pasta

Looking for a great way to add veggies to your kids dinner?  And to use all of those zuchinnis and onions from summer? Try this easy pasta sauce. Also, I've started a new love affair with cast iron cookware. I've got an indoor grill pan and a couple of skillets. I can't say enough good things about cooking with cast iron...relatively inexpensive...easy to maintain, just a little maintenance, will last pretty much forever if you care for it...and no nasty chemicals to be breathed in as they off-gas or leach into your food.  More on cast iron soon....but I've used a cast iron grill pan and my large cast iron skillet to cook all of this (except the pasta which I cook in my beloved stainless steel pasta and steamer pot).  Anyway, the only negative to cast iron, could be said it is heavy, but then again, we could all use the extra exercise!

Grill Some Veggies!

Slice and toss the following veggies in olive oil and kosher salt, then grill:

1 eggplant
1 green zuchinni
1 yellow summer squash
1 red onion

Grill vegetables, use half for pasta sauce, keep other half in the refrigerator to make vegetable panini sandwiches or another pasta dish!
(I made panini's today with the vegetables above and herbed goat cheese on multi-grain bread...Yum!

Grilled Veggie Ragu.....perfect for Rigatoni Pasta

1/2 of the grilled vegetables from above, place in food processor and pulse until chopped.
Cook 2 lb of ground beef in a skillet seasoned with kosher salt, garlic powder and cayenne pepper to taste. (Easily convert this to vegetarian, just use all of the grilled veggies and skip the ground beef).

—When the meat is cooked add the chopped vegetables, and add:
1 jar of your favorite marinara (I like Muir Glen Tomato and Basil Pasta Sauce). Then rinse the pasta sauce jar with 1/2 cup of milk and add to pan.  Simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add rigatoni and cook per the directions on the box.

Toss the pasta and sauce together and garnish with grated parmesan or pecorino romano cheese.