We, like so many others, are great fans of Italian food, especially pasta. This, of course, does not mean that we gorge on it every other day. No, we have it, maybe, once a week, sometimes even after longer periods; but , when we do have it, we thoroughly enjoy it. We love all sorts and shapes of pasta, and love trying out different recipes with them. But the ones that are more often seen at the table are penne, fusilli and tortiglioni, in that order. Of course lasagne sheets and macaroni find their way into my kitchen often too. This cheesy tortiglioni bake is right up there with our favourite way of consuming pasta.
And, our favourite way of enjoying them is by adding them to a variety of homemade sauces like the red looking chunky sauce in this recipe. I love adding an assortment of vegetables and mushrooms for a healthy one pot meal. Vegetarian versions of pasta are probably rustled up in my kitchen more than their meaty counterparts. A bowl of pasta cooked in the above manner is also comfort food for us. Hot out of the oven, with the melting cheese and the assortment of vegetables, we eat to our hearts content.
This recipe is from years ago but the love for pasta continues. If you don’t have tortiglioni- penne, fusilli, rigatoni will work as well. You can use your own selection of vegetables too. Here’s how I made the following cheesy tortiglioni bake; great as a healthy and filing one pot meal.
You can find other vegetarian recipes here. Continue reading for the recipe for this cheesy tortiglioni bake.
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Recipe card-
Cheesy tortiglioni bake
Ingredients
- 250 gms tortiglioni pasta (penne or fusilli will work too)
- 3 tblsp olive oil
- 1 carrot, cut into very small pieces
- ½ red pepper, cut into very small pieces
- ½ green pepper, cut into very small pieces
- 2 cups sweetcorn
- 7-8 closed cup mushrooms, sliced
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 4-5 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 10-12 very ripe tomatoes, chopped (or two tins of chopped tomatoes)
- 2 tbsp dried mixed herbs
- salt to taste
- freshly ground pepper to taste (I used a generous amount)
- 200 gms cheddar cheese, grated
Instructions
- Boil the pasta in enough salty water and a tblsp of olive oil, till cooked al dente(firm to the bite). Drain, wash with cold water and keep aside.
- Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a pan and add the peppers, garlic, onion, mushrooms and sweetcorn. Toss around for a minute.
- Add the tomatoes and dried mixed herbs.
- Season with salt and generous amounts of freshly ground pepper. Cook till the tomatoes lose their shape. Do not let it dry out too much. If you feel it does, add a little hot water.
- Pre heat the oven at 200 deg C.
- Add the pasta to the chunky sauce and mix in. Remove from heat.
- Place half of the pasta in an ovenproof dish and sprinkle half of the grated cheddar cheese. Add the other half of the pasta, along with the rest of the sauce and top with the remaining cheese.
- Bake in the centre of the pre heated oven till the cheese melts and the top is nicely browned.
- Serve hot and dig in.
Until next time,
Sunita
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