This Veggie Pasta bake is hearty, healthy and very flavorful pasta dish. It is packed with bright and colorful roasted vegetables and its great for crowds , easy to freeze and reheat . Peppers, courgette, and onions are tossed in olive oil and Italian seasoning and then baked in oven to bring out their intense flavors. Just add pasta and tomatoes and then top with mozzarella for a meal that is nutritious , delicious and super easy to make.
Ingredients for the Roasted Vegetable Pasta:
Pasta : I have tried fusilli and penne in this recipe. Both are good. You can change pasta shape according to your preference. Make sure the pasta is completely covered with chopped tomatoes/sauce so the pasta doesn’t get hard during baking.
Vegetables: Peppers, courgettes , onions, cherry tomatoes goes well in the recipe. You can also try mushrooms, squash or any other vegetable you like. Cut the vegetables consistently so they roast up at the same rate. To make washing up easier you can line the roasting tin with baking paper. Make sure it comes over the edges so the oil doesn’t leak underneath it.
Seasonings: I find it easy to use the blend of herbs, like Italian seasoning which is easily available in stores.
Sauce: I used chopped canned tomatoes . You can use a jar of ready made marinara sauce or any other pasta sauce you like the taste of .
Cheese: Mozzarella and grated vegetarian hard cheese like cheddar . If you are not vegetarian you can use Parmesan or a vegan friendly cheese if you are vegan.
Oil : Use good quality for roasting the vegetables. It will stop the vegetables drying out.
Fresh Basil : Fresh basil gives so much flavor to the recipe try not to skip it. Also try not to substitute it with dry basil because the taste is completely different.
Pesto: Its completely optional but sun dried tomato pesto will enhance its flavor, you can make pesto yourself or buy it from a shop. You can find the easy recipe of vegan sun dried tomato pesto here.
Leftovers and Storage: Keep the leftovers in the baking dish covered with plastic wrap or foil, or just transfer in resealable containers and keep refrigerated up to 3 days .
Reheating and freezing: You can reheat in microwave for 2-3 minutes or in preheated oven for about 10-15 minutes until steaming hot.
It can be frozen after baking . Just thaw it overnight and reheat in oven until hot.
Roasted Veg Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 1 Red Pepper seeds removed, cut into bite sized chunks
- 1 Yellow Pepper seeds removed, cut in bite sized chunks
- 1 Courgette Cut into small pieces
- 1 Red onion Sliced
- 10-12 Cherry/Plum tomatoes
- ¾-1 400gms Tin of chopped tomatoes
- 2 Garlic cloves chopped finely
- 3 tbsp Olive oil
- ¼ Cup Basil plus extra for garnish
- 300 gms Pasta of choice like Penne or Rigatoni
- 200 gms Ball of mozzarella drained and finely chopped or 1 cup grated mozzarella
- 2-3 tbsp Vegetarian hard cheese grated Like Cheddar
- 1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper as per taste
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190C/Gas 5.
- In a roasting tin or deep baking dish , toss the peppers, courgettes and onion with olive oil, salt and black pepper. Roast for about 35-40 minutes, turning twice, until tender and the edges look slightly charred.
- After 40 minutes, add cherry/plum tomatoes, chopped garlic, chopped tomatoes, basil and Italian seasoning . Start with 3/4 can of tomatoes and then add more depending upon the consistency of sauce required. Cook for 10-15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook for 6 minutes. As the pasta will be cooked again in oven so it needs to be al dente. Drain in a colander.
- Stir the pasta into roasted vegetables. Stir through mozzarella and top with grated vegetarian cheese. Check the seasonings and adjust. Sprinkle red pepper flakes on top.
- Return to oven for 10-15 minutes until the cheese has melted. Garnish with some more basil leaves and sprinkle some freshly ground black pepper.
- Enjoy!
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