Day 16: Vegetarian Baked Pasta

We are officially half-way through Baking Through August.

And to be honest, I am sick of desserts.

I do not come from a dessert based family. Further, no one in my family has a major sweet tooth. In fact, we actually only ever make desserts for holidays and other big gatherings.
So over two weeks of desserts being constantly in the house, and being constantly eaten, and I am a little bit tired of them. They're not special anymore, just a constant.
Even my body started rejecting them; I felt physically sick after testing the past few recipes.

But who says baking has to be reserved solely for desserts?! So today I bring you an entree. And it's vegetarian to boot!

I pretty much just looked at what I had in my pantry and fridge and threw this together. So beyond the very basics, you can add or subtract just about whateva ya want!

The Ingredients

• 1 box/bag of rotini
• 1 jar/can of marinara sauce
• Shredded mozzarella/Italian cheese (amount to your liking)
• Zuchinni
• Bell pepper
• Onion
• Carrot
• Parmesan
• Rosemary
• Parsely
• Parmesan cheese

Again, this was just what I had in my fridge. Add or subtract whatever you want.

I actually used some baby carrots as well, because we only had one regular carrot left and I wanted more in the dish.

Fresh herbs aren't a must; dried would work just fine as well. Or none at all. You can also use any kind of short pasta.

Again, it's whateva!!

The Process

Cook and strain your pasta.

While you wait for the water to begin boiling and your pasta to cook, chop up dem veggies.

Angry walrus or ferocious bunny?
Or just weird human.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

In a 9"x13" glass pan, stir your vegetables and pasta together.
Then stir in the marinara sauce. I did
this in two parts to prevent some mess and splashing.


Now mix the shredded cheese and herbs into the dish.
Once everything is mixed, top it off with parmesan.

Stick it in the oven for 30 minutes!

The Final Product

Some Notes

If you're not buying the whole vegetarian option, you could easily add cooked Italian sausage or chicken.

If you want to fancy it up just a little bit, sprinkle more shredded cheese on top instead of the parmesan dust. Once it comes out of the oven, place fresh herbs on top, such as parsley or basil leaves. Just because of its nature, it won't be a super refined looking dish, but for just some guests over for a small dinner, this would work nicely.

If I Could Do It Again....

I'd stir in some pepper. Not a huge change, as I just put some on right before I ate it, but it'd be nice for it to be evenly displaced throughout the entire dish.

Personally, I'd probably add chicken to this next time. It seems like it'd be the perfect addition - well, perfect for non-vegetarians!

The Final Verdict

So easy. And you can use whatever you have in the fridge pretty much.

Not the fanciest, or most intricate, or the absolute tastiest. But for the time and ingredient investment, definitely a great outcome.