Baked Ziti With Vegetables and Mushrooms

Submitted by fallenrunner

"Cookinglight.com recipe"

 

• Ready In: 40mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup onion (chopped)
• 1 cup green bell pepper (chopped)
• 1 cup red bell pepper (chopped)
• 1 1⁄2 1 1/2 cups cremini mushrooms (chopped) or 1 1/2 cups button mushrooms (chopped)
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, undrained and chopped
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 7 cups spinach (about 1/2 pound)
• 2 1⁄4 cups ziti pasta
• cooking spray
• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1⁄4 cup parmesan cheese (grated)

directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and bell peppers, and sauté 5 minutes. Add mushrooms and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in basil, salt, black pepper, tomatoes, and tomato sauce, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes or until slightly thick. Stir in spinach; cook 1 minute or until spinach wilts. Stir in pasta. Spoon into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Dollop with ricotta.
3. Cover and bake at 375° for 20 minutes. Uncover; sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake an additional 5 minutes or until lightly browned.
4. Note: To make ahead, assemble casserole as directed. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Let stand 30 minutes at room temperature, and bake as directed.

Reviews

[Rhiannon and Matt]

Very quick & easy to throw together. I made my own tomato sauce with tomato paste & water & added about a tsp of sun-dried tomato tapenade to boost the flavour. We didn't have ziti, so i used wholegrain penne. Next time i will add some oregano & maybe a touch of chili (just coz i love it!) We will definitely be making this again.