Baked Vegetable Pasta

Last week I mentioned that pasta is a great “go to” meal for us. Well, last night I threw together a baked pasta dish and it was terrific! Baked pastas are so easy, but can still impress the guests.

Luckily, I had some homemade vegetable pasta sauce in our freezer. So I took that out and boiled up some whole wheat penne pasta. I know some people dislike the whole wheat stuff, but we love it. It doesn’t cost much more and the extra fiber and nutritional benefits are so worth it!!I grated some mozzarella and parmesan and also chopped up some fresh basil. I layered everything in a casserole dish and waited for the bubbling to begin!! We had a scrumptious meal in no time.

Baked Vegetable Pasta

1 box of whole wheat penne pastaHomemade vegetable pasta sauce or your favorite sauce 8 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese 4 ounces shredded parmesan cheese Chopped fresh basil

In a large pot bring water to boil. Add in salt and boil the penne pasta. You don’t want to cook it all of the way because it will finish cooking in the oven. I did mine for about 7 minutes. When the pasta is done, mix it with your sauce of choice in the pot. Add half of the pasta to a casserole dish. Sprinkle with half of the mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Add the rest of the pasta/sauce and then finish it off with the remaining cheese. Sprinkle with fresh basil. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes…or until the pasta is bubbling!! Let cool for 5 minutes, then serve.