Sunday, October 7, 2018

More Casserole - Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables

Here's another great casserole to use all the veggies from the box.  It's based on this recipe from Giada de Laurentis on the Food Network. I use a variety of vegetables depending on what I have.  I also vary the cheese, and the amount of pasta.  Here's what I did this week:

2 red or yellow peppers cut into 1" strips.
2 zuchinni,quartered lengthwise and cut into 1" cubes
2 summer squash, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1" cubes (I substituted eggplant for squash this week)
8 oz sliced mushrooms (basically one package)
1 yellow onion, peeled and cut into 1" pieces.
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbs herbs de Provence
8 oz penne pasta
4 oz mozarella or Italian blend shredded cheese (1 cup)
2 oz (1/2 cup) shredded smoked cheese (mozarella, provolone or gouda)
3 cups marinara sauce (a jar is good here - Trader Giotto's is convinient)
1 oz parmesan (1/4 cup)
2 oz mozarella (1/2 cup)

You'll need a 13'x9" casserole dish sprayed with olive oil.  (Pam or similar)

Preheat oven to 450°F
Line a baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil.  Spray with olive oil spray (Pam or similar)
Put all the vegetables in a large bowl and add olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs de Provence and toss to coat.   Spread out on the the baking sheet and put it in oven for 15 (too short) to 30 min (30 is prob too long).  Once the vegetables are roasted, you can save these in the frig and assemble the casserole later.  But if not, while the veg are roasting, you can...

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.  Add the pasta and cook for about 6 minutes. Since you will be cooking the pasta a second time in the oven, the inside should still be a bit hard.  Drain.

In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta with the roasted vegetables, marinara sauce and 
4 oz mozarella or Italian blend shredded cheese (1 cup) and 2 oz (1/2 cup) shredded smoked cheese until everything is well combined.

Pour into the casserole and top with the parmesan and mozarella cheese.  Bake until top is golden and cheese melts, about 25 minutes.

I only took one pic  - here's what the vegetables look like after roasting:

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