A veggie pesto pasta bake is an easy dish and perfect for feeding a crowd. Made with Mediterranean vegetables in a creamy tomato sauce with added red pesto for a real Italian flavour, topped off with melted cheese.
Cook the pasta in a large pan of lightly salted boiling water until it's almost cooked but still has some bite, then drain.
400 g pasta shapes
Pre-heat the oven to 190C /375F/ gas mark 5. Add the olive oil to a large frying pan and over a medium heat, fry the onion and peppers until soft.
2 tablespoon olive oil, 1 red bell pepper, 1 red onion, 1 yellow bell pepper
Add the courgettes and fry for 2 minutes.
2 courgettes
Stir in the red pesto, cream cheese, passata and fresh basil leaves. and season with pepper.
4 tablespoon red pesto, 100 g low fat cream cheese, 500 g passata, 20 g fresh basil leaves, 1 dash black pepper
Stir in the fresh spinach until it wilts, this will only take a minute.
100 g spinach
Add the cooked pasta to the pan and stir everything together until the pasta is well coated with the sauce.
Tip everything into an oven-proof dish and sprinkle with the grated cheese. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes until the cheese has melted.
200 g mozarella cheese
Notes
Ingredients
Pasta - any pasta shapes or short noodles will work. Suggestions include fusilli, rigatoni, penne, conchiglie, shells, or elbow macaroni.
Pesto - a good quality red or green pesto, whatever you prefer.
Cream Cheese - I've used low-fat cream cheese in the sauce to keep this dish on the healthier side, but it's up to you.
Vegetables - onions, red and yellow bell peppers, and courgette or zucchini and spinach all soften quickly. For more suggestions see Variations below.
Cheese - pre-grated cheese is really handy. However, if you can. I always recommend grating it yourself. Why? Pre-grated packet cheeses contain a caking agent that not only stops the cheese from clumping together in the packet, but can make the cheese more difficult to melt.
Tips
When cooking pasta for a pasta bake, cook it until it is nearly done but still has some bite to it. The pasta will continue to cook in the oven.
I've used red and yellow peppers, red onion, courgette/zucchini and spinach in this pasta veggie bake, but you can use other vegetables that don't need too much cooking such as aubergines (eggplant), broccoli, mushrooms, asparagus or green beans.
I like to add some red pesto to the sauce as I find it adds loads of flavour. I use a sun-dried tomato pesto but if you're after a bit of spice you could use a red chilli one. Do be aware that some red pesto varieties contain nuts.
For a lovely creamy pasta bake, stir a few tablespoons of cream cheese into the sauce. You could also use cream or creme fraiche or leave it out altogether if you'd like a lighter version.
Storage
Vegetable pesto pasta bake can be stored in the fridge for 2 -3 days. The pasta will continue to absorb the sauce so the texture won't be quite the same. Leftovers can be eaten hot or cold. You can freeze pasta bake, just let it cool then cover and place in the freezer for 3 - 4 months. To defrost, leave it in the fridge overnight. To reheat, take it out about an hour before you want to eat it so it can come to room temperature. This reduces the re-heating time. Cover with foil so the top doesn't continue to brown and bake in the oven at 190C/375F for about 20-25 minutes until hot.