How’s the long end of the week goin’ for everyone? So, finally it’s the last day of ‘2020’. We actually had some travel plans but had to drop it at the last minute so we ended up staying home and doing nothing much really.

Other than eating a lot, ofcourse. It’s cold here, so just enjoying the chill in the air and waiting for trees to turn their color. It’s always so exciting and I cant wait to see the spring warmth. Hope you all having a good time with your family and loved ones!

As soon as the weather gets cooler, I start craving for comfort food And when it comes to comfort food, pasta is right up.

Today, I am sharing my favourite Pasta recipe in the blog after very long. Veggie Lovers Baked Pasta made with Homestyle Sauce. If you love your veggies, then you need to try this delicious meal!

I was not sure what to name this recipe, but since there are so many veggies here, hence, I kept Baked Penne with vegetable.

Why THIS Pasta Recipe?

A quick and easy recipes for a perfect dinner or celebrations. I used every vegetable I had but you can adapt it to your preferences and use your favorite vegetables. I normally prefer pasta with a lot of marinara rather than whole white sauces! I can’t get enough of it! My family prefers a light hand with the marinara or white sauce so I decided to put up the veggies with both to see if they could take the right place. 

Guess what, all of those delicious, fresh veggies more than made up for it. 

I used here firm vegetables such as bell peppers, carrot, onion, tomatoes, just cook in the pan with a little olive oil with a bunch of sauces over a low to medium heat and its done. Bake it with some fresh cheese with a flavour of Italian seasoning. Bon Appetite !

This recipe will help you get your fill of veggies! It’s a great way to eat the rainbow! You can use wheat or gluten-free pasta. We chose Penne with our favourite vegetables, but, you could use your favorite shape. 

So, here we go!

PREP TIME -1 hour)

INGREDIENTS :

200 gram penne

For sauces,
3 tomatoes
2 – 3 tablespoon ketchup
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon Butter
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon each of oregano and chilli flakes
1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
salt, to taste

1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4th cup onion thinly sliced
3/4th cup chopped carrots
1/2 cup chopped bell peppers (any)
1/4th cup corn kennels
3 garlic cloves.
salt and black pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Boil pasta and keep it aside. For baked pasta, it’s better to keep the pasta little undone because it gets cook in microwave too. (If you over -boil pasta, it will get super soft/soggy once baked)

MAKE HOMEMADE SAUCE AND WHITE SAUCE

1. Warm 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium-high heat. Add chilli flakes and oregano to the pan.

2. Add the tomatoes and their juices and smash the tomatoes with your spatula as you add them.

3. Bring the sauce to a rapid simmer and add 2 or more tablespoon ketchup. Continue simmering until the sauce is slightly reduced and thickened, about 10 -15 minutes.

4. Add on crushed black pepper as per taste and keep aside.

For White sauce,

1.  Into a preheated pan add butter, with 1 tablespoon all purpose flour (maida).

2. Using a wired whisk stir the flour quickly as soon as you add it. Keep on stirring so that no lumps are formed. Sauté the flour till you get a pale golden color.

3. Pour the milk with one hand and stir the sauce mixture with the other.

4. On a low flame, simmer the sauce till it thickens, and add the seasonings. Switch off the flame, pour it in a bowl and keep aside.

And our sauces for pasta are ready with lots of veggies!

STIR FRY THE VEGGIES

1. Heat olive oil in a pan on medium heat. Once hot, add chopped garlic and onion. Saute for a minute. Then, add thinly sliced bell peppers, carrots and corn for another 1- 2 minutes.

2. Then add the salt, black pepper, italian seasonings. Mix everything until well combined.
Add in the 3/4th of pasta sauces. Cook for a minute or two till veggies are soften a little.

3. Add in the boil pasta and 1/2 cup of white sauce. Mix everything together and remove pan from the heat.
Now, take a 1 L baking pan and place 1/3 cup of pasta sauce at the bottom.

4. Transfer half of the pasta from the pan on top of the pasta sauce in baking dish. Grate cheese on top.

5. Then layer the remaining pasta on top of the cheese and top with remaining pasta sauces and grated cheese.

Bake at 350 F degrees for 10 minutes and you can see how beautifully the cheese melts.

NOTE: Don’t over bake the pasta otherwise it will transfer into a rubber like substance and I swear it will be horrible to taste! (From personal experience)

Serve the delicious Baked penne with hot cheese garlic bread or a pair of Italian dessert.

Don’t you love how easy and impressive pasta is all at the same time? I can think of so many situations a quick pasta recipe has saved. XD
Yes, I am crazy in love with pasta, who wouldn’t be. I mean – think creamy; channel that cheesy baked pasta or just that homely tomato pasta for that perfect soul fix-me-up food for every mood.

So, when are you going to try this creamy veggies pasta? Be sure to leave me a comment and review so I can use your feedback to create more yums.

Other Recipe to try down’

• Italian Recipes
• Mexican Recipes
• Shanghai recipes

And how about Desserts?