Baked Penne With Roasted Vegetables,courtesy Giada De La

JT'sMom's Note:

I watched Giada prepare this dish on her Food Network show, Everyday Italian. Episode: Vegetarian Italian It looked so easy and delicious, I prepared it for my family that same night. It was a big hit! NOTE: Giada prepared this dish for her Mother who dislikes garlic, so I added 10 split cloves of garlic to the vegetables before roasting.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 5 mins
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• 2 red peppers , cored and cut into 1-inch wide strips
• 2 zucchini , quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 summer squash , quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 cremini mushrooms , halved
• 1 yellow onion , peeled and sliced into 1-inch strips
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt , divided, to taste
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper , divided, to taste
• 1 tablespoon dried Italian herb seasoning or 1 tablespoon herbes de provence , to taste
• 1 lb penne pasta
• 3 cups marinara sauce (store bought or homemade)
• 1 cup grated Fontina cheese , to taste
• ½ cup grated smoked mozzarella cheese , to taste
• 1 ½ cups frozen peas , thawed
• ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese , plus
• 1⁄3; cup grated parmesan cheese , for topping, to taste
• 2 tablespoons butter , cut into small pieces, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
2. On a baking sheet, toss the peppers, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, and onions with olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and dried herbs. Roast until tender, about 15 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook for about 6 minutes. Since you will be cooking the pasta a second time in the oven, you want to make sure the inside is still hard. Drain in a colander.
4. In a large bowl, toss the drained pasta with the roasted vegetables, marinara sauce, cheeses, peas, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Using a wooden spoon, gently mix, until all the pasta is coated with the sauce and the ingredients are combined.
5. Pour the pasta into a greased 9 by 13-inch pan. Top with the remaining 1/3 cup Parmesan and butter pieces. Bake until top is golden and cheese melts, about 25 minutes.

Reviews

[CookKT]

This is a wonderful dish. It is easy to make and absolutely delicious! I added one extra zucchini, extra mushrooms, and some broccoli. I didn't have fontina cheese so I added some extra smoke mozzarella and parmesan to make up for it. I also used whole wheat penne. It turned out fantastic!

[Krista2487]

I love this dish! So yummy & pretty easy to make as well. Had left overs for days.

[TamarZ]

Let me start by saying I rarely follow recipes exactly. For this one, I don't like mushrooms, so I omitted them, forgot to buy peas, and couldn't get the jar to my spaghetti sauce open. I cut the vegetables much smaller then the recipe called for (1" is pretty big if you think about it!) especially the red peppers, which I cut into about 8" x 6" pieces (1 long 1" strip is to big, and then I would have ended up with only a few pieces of red pepper). Instead of spaghetti sauce, I opened a can of tomato sauce (think pureed smooth tomatoes), put that in (it was about 2.25 cups), cut up a couple of fresh tomatoes to add, and added more basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and a little dill. Also, because I don't like parmesan, I used smoked munster cheese in place. I was doubtful about the amount of pasta, because it looked like a lot of veggies to me, but I followed the directions on that part, and it worked out beautifully
It made about 8 servings for me. I really liked it today, now the test is going to be how well it keeps in the fridge/ freezer, and reheats/ tastes cold! Great way to get in a lot of veggies and have a 1 dish meal