ITALIAN-INSPIRED PASTA BAKE
When Mama Paige comes to visit, pasta is most certainly always on the menu. There are so many ways to make pasta, but a pasta bake is always a crowd-pleaser. Like a traditional pasta dish, pasta bakes include pasta, sauce, cheese, and sometimes veggies. The only difference is that – you, guessed it – you bake the pasta in a casserole dish.
This quick and customizable Italian-inspired pasta bake is a great casual family dinner or a dish to bring to a potluck meal. This recipe uses Campanelle pasta; it looks like little frilly vases. Don’t have Campanelle? Use whatever pasta noodle you have on hand. This dish is sure to have mouths watering as the smell of tomatoes and basil fills the air.
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Quick How-to on Cooking Pasta.
Before we get into the recipe, let’s take a moment to talk about cooking pasta. If you are anything like me, pasta and rice never seem to come out quite right. Luckily, Mama Paige shared a quick how-to on cooking pasta perfectly!
The secret to cooking pasta is to make sure you have enough water. How much is enough? Mama Paige recommend four quarts of water to every pound of pasta. Also, you will want to bring the water to a full boil before placing noodles in the water. Add about a half tablespoon of salt per four quarts of water. Stir pasta so the noodles do not stick together. The pasta will be done in about 8 to 10 minutes. If your pasta is thicker, you may need the full 12 minutes or even an additional minute or two.
Helpful tools.
Italian-Inspired Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 1 C. prepared pizza sauce
- 4 C. Campanelle pasta,
- ½ C. tempeh, crumbled and sautéed with 2 tbs olive oil, 1 tsp ground fennel seed, and ½ tsp ground sage.
- 1/3 C. button mushrooms, roughly chopped
- ¼ C. white onion, diced
- ¼ C. green bell pepper, diced
- ½ C. cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 4 fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips.
- ½ C. vegan feta cheez. divided into 2 portions.
- 1 C. vegan mozzarella, sliced thin or shredded
- 1 Tbsp. oregano
- ½ Tbsp. dried basil
- ½ Tsp salt
- ¼ Tsp black pepper
- ½ Tsp dried parsley leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- Prepare tempeh crumbles. Warm olive oil in a small skillet. Once warm, add fennel seeds and sage. Warm for about 30 seconds. Add crumbled tempeh pieces to warmed oil. Sauté until tempeh pieces begin to brown and crisp. Set tempeh pieces aside, but leave the oil in the skillet.
- Add mushrooms, onion, bell pepper, tomatoes, garlic, and basil leaves to the remaining oil in skillet. Sauté vegetables until onions become translucent. Remove from heat and set aside. Note: if vegetables start to stick, add a teaspoon of olive oil. Do not drain the vegetables.
- Coat the inside of a 13 x 8 baking dish with olive oil (link to baking dish). Add cooked pasta, pizza sauce, tempeh, cooked vegetables, mozzarella, half the feta, oregano, basil, salt, and black pepper. Gently mix until everything is well incorporated. Top pasta mix with the remaining feta and parsley.
- Bake for 20 min at 350F.
Notes:
If you do not have prepared pizza sauce, you can substitute 1 cup of crushed tomatoes blended with 1 teaspoon sugar, 1 tablespoon red wine, ½ teaspoon dried oregano, ½ teaspoon dried basil leaves, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, and a dash of salt.
