Sally's Baked Penne Pasta
| Prep Time: 25 min | Serves: 6 |
| Cooking Time: 20 min | Yield: 6 servings |
A Hearty Healthy Yummy baked whole wheat pasta dish. This version makes 6 servings. With fresh garlic, tomato and spinach, this recipe hides a lot of nutritional benefit with it's great taste. Plus, for 'finicky eaters' who are used to unhealthy regular pasta, this baked pasta dish hides the whole wheat element of this pasta.
Ingredients
- 6 oz Penne Whole Wheat Pasta
- 6 medium raw Roma Tomato
- 400 g Spinach, Baby
- 8 cloves Garlic Clove
- 1 tbsp Pure Olive Oil
- 1 cup Sun-dried Tomatoes In Oil
- 2 tbsp Pepper, Black
- 1 tbsp Sea Salt
- 1 cup Grated Mozzarella Cheese
- 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan
- 2 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar (rozzano)
Directions
Start water boiling for pasta.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large saucepan, with a cover, over medium heat, warm olive oil.
While water, olive oil, and oven heating, peel and chop fresh garlic cloves, about 2 cloves per person.
Add chopped garlic to oil in saucepan. Add sun-dried tomatoes from jar to garlic cloves. (Some jarred sun-dried tomatoes come chopped in the jar, some come as slices. You might want to chop up the slices into smaller pieces, but it's not necessary.)
Rough chop the roma tomatoes, about one and one-half per person. Add to saucepan with garlic and sun-dried tomatoes. Generously add freshly ground black pepper and a sparing amount of freshly ground sea salt.
Add balsamic vinegar. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring once in awhile.
When water comes to boil in pasta cooker, add whole wheat pasta. Boil for one-half the recommended time. (So if box says 10-12 minutes, cook 5-7 minutes) Drain.
While tomato sauce simmering, trim stems as desired on fresh baby spinach. Remember, it reduces in volume very quickly when heated, so be generous with the fresh spinach per person. Add to tomato sauce and let wilt into tomato mixture for a few minutes.
In square pyrex spoon out a layer of cooked pasta. Add a layer of half the tomato/spinach sauce. Sprinkle a layer of half of the mozerella cheese. Add second layer of pasta, more sauce, the mozerella and final top layer of parmesan. (The fluids from the tomato sauce will make the pasta increase in volume, so pyrex baking dish should not be too full, or place protective foil under dish while baking).
Bake 15-20 minutes until top parmesan crusted on top. Enjoy!