Crusty Cheesy Baked Goodness

When strapped for a dinner recipe and sick of Rice and Eggs, I rely on my other fall-back – baked pasta. I have all the ingredients I’ll need on hand, so there’s no last minute grocery shopping – Pasta? Check. Cheese? Check. Veggies coming out my ears? Double check. It also has the added benefit of providing us with the perfect leftovers for the next couple of days. Every time I make this dish, it’s a little different, based on what I have on hand, so feel free to adjust this recipe according to your pantry. Got some ricotta? An extra handful of mushrooms? Throw em in!

 

Carrie’s Baked Pasta

Olive oil

1 onion or medium leek, chopped

3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

1 fennel bulb with the stalks removed, cored and chopped.  Reserve the fronds.

3 medium zucchini, cut into 1″ pieces

2 tomatoes, chopped

tomato sauce/canned diced tomatoes – I had some reserved homemade tomato sauce, so didn’t have to use the diced tomatoes pictured

chopped greens – I used turnip and beet greens here and therefore ended up with a bit of a pink dish due to the beet dye.

1/3 cup chopped parsley

1 lb pasta of your choice – I prefer penne, but only had these curly-q’s on hand

1/2 to 1 cup grated cheese – again, whatever you have on hand.  I had asiago and parmesan.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Sautee the onion and garlic until golden, then add the fennel and zucchini.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the fennel is tender.  If I’m in a rush, I’ll speed the process along by adding a bit of water and covering the skillet to steam the veggies.  Add the chopped tomatoes and tomato sauce and stir to combine. 

Add the greens and cover for about 3 minutes to let them steam.  Mix it all together and season/tweak as desired.  If it’s a bit dry at this point, try adding some more tomatoes or a splash of water.  Stir in the parsley and reserved fennel fronds, chopped.

Preheat the oven to 350°.  Your water should be boiling by now, so you can cook your pasta.  Since it will continue cooking in the oven, it should be al dente (not underdone, but not mushy), so try cooking it for one minute less than recommended.  Drain and return to the pot.  Add the sauce and stir to combine.

If you’re really in a rush, you can just pop this on the dinner table with no problem – it’s a wonderful meal in itself, but if you’ve got the extra couple of minutes, you may as well go for the golden, crusty gusto.  Transfer your pasta mixture to a 9×13 pan and sprinkle cheese over top.  Loosely tent the dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake 5 minutes more, until the cheese is golden. 

I had some extra goat cheese sitting around, so I threw it in some goat cheese/black pepper biscuits that turned out to be heavenly.  Recipe to follow…