Roasted Mediterranean Veg with Pesto Recipe by Holly White

This Roasted Mediterranean Veg with Pesto Recipe is a great way to use up extra vegetables in your fridge and you can make it to suit what you have. Carrots and squash work well here, but as they are thicker root veg, give them 15 minutes of extra roasting time before adding the other ingredients. The pesto brings it all together and injects a really Mediterranean taste to it.


3 red onions, quartered
2 red peppers, cut into quarters
2 courgettes, halved lengthways and cut into chunks
2 leeks, thickly sliced
1 aubergine, cut into cubes
4 garlic cloves, unpeeled and squashed with the back of a wooden spoon
a few sprigs of fresh rosemary
olive oil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a handful of pitted black olives (optional)
vegan pesto, to serve
rocket salad, herby couscous or focaccia, to serve


1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Put all the vegetables and the rosemary sprigs on a large baking tray, drizzle with olive oil, season well with salt and pepper and mix well with your hands or a spoon to coat all the veg in the oil.
3. If the tray is too crowded, split the veg between two trays, as otherwise they will be soggy.
4. Roast in the oven for up to 50 minutes, stirring the veg and shaking the tray halfway through.
5. When the veg come out of the oven, squeeze the garlic out of its skin – it will come out easily. Scatter the olives over and toss to combine.
6. Drizzle the pesto on top, but keep some back so that people can add extra if they like or dip bread into it.
7. Serve on warmed plates with a simple rocket salad, herby couscous or warm focaccia.


Roasted mediterranean pesto veg(1)

Final Cover - Holly White Vegan-ish
Holly White is a Fashion Journalist and Broadcaster who is passionate about style, natural beauty and plant-based eating. She regularly appears on TV3’s Six O’Clock Show and hosts cookery demos across the country to show people how easy and delicious a plant-based lifestyle can be. You can follow all of her activity on her personal blog,

This recipe is from her latest cookbook ‘Vegan-Ish’, a gentle introduction to a plant-based diet.

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