Description
This is healthy comfort food. A balance of pasta, vegetables and cheese. An quick and easy meal that is great for meal prep or when you don’t want to make a trip to the grocery store.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 ½ cups organic penne or gluten-free penne pasta
- 1 bunch red chard
- 2 Tbsp and 1 tsp of sea salt, divided
- 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 Tbsp minced garlic
- 2 large zucchini, quartered
- 2 yellow crookneck squash, quartered
- 1 ½ cups sliced cremini mushrooms
- 3 cups organic marinara sauce
- 2–3 cups shredded organic mozzarella
- 15 oz ricotta cheese (1 container)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Prepare pasta according to directions. For alternative pastas, undercook them by 3-4 minutes. Drain and set aside.
- While pasta is cooking, blanch the red chard. Bring 4 cups of water and 2 tablespoons sea salt to a boil. Chop red chard into 1-inch pieces, including the stems. Add to boiling water and immediately drain. Set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a large pan, add zucchini and squash and sauté on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms, garlic, sea salt and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
- In a large bowl, toss the penne pasta and marinara sauce. Add the vegetables, basil and half the mozzarella, mix well. Poor into a large baking dish. Create 6 wells. Scoop in the ricotta cheese evenly amongst the 6 wells. Top with remaining mozzarella. Bake 15 minutes, till the cheese is melted and browning.
Notes
- When using gluten-free, brown rice, quinoa, lentil and chickpea pasta, remember to undercook. Cook the pasta 3-5 minutes under the recommended time. The pasta will finish cooking when you bake the dish.
- Substitute the vegetables with others you may have on hand such as eggplant, spinach, and broccoli.
- Garnish with red pepper flakes and fresh basil as desired