Healthy Baked Penne with Roasted Vegetables

The first time I made this my husband LOVED it – he said it was hearty and couldn’t believe it was good for him too. I created this recipe from a FoodNetwork recipe I found from Giada De Laurentis. The original recipe is much less healthy (which you can see in my modification notes below in purple). But I promise, this version doesn’t skimp on any of the flavor from the original!

The Ingredients

• 2 red peppers, cored and cut into 1-inch wide strips
• 2 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 2 summer squash, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 cremini mushrooms, halved (I ended up using about 8 cremini mushrooms)
• 1 yellow onion, peeled and sliced into 1-inch strips
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil I used about 1.5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 tablespoon dried Italian herb mix or herbs de Provence (I didn’t have this, so I used 2 tsp dried oregano + 2 tsp dried basil + garlic powder and a pinch of crushed red pepper)
• 1 pound penne pasta (I used whole wheat penne)
• 3 cups marinara sauce (store bought or homemade) (I used Trader Joe’s Tomato Basil Marinara)
• 1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed

1 cup grated fontina cheese; 1/2 cup grated smoked mozzarella; 1/4 cup grated Parmesan, plus 1/3 cup for topping (I used about 1-1.5 cups of cheese total, and I used a fontina, mozarella & parmesan blend)

2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces I omitted this – you don’t need it!

The Directions

Step 1: Chop all the veggies and preheat your oven to 450 degrees

Step 2: On a baking sheet (or in a casserole dish/large pan), toss the peppers, zucchini, squash, mushrooms, and onions with olive oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and dried herbs. Roast until tender, about 15 minutes.

Step 3: Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook for about 6 minutes. Since you will be cooking the pasta a second time in the oven, you want to make sure the inside is still hard. Drain in a colander.

Step 4: Once the veggies are done, toss the drained pasta with the roasted vegetables, marinara sauce, cheeses, peas, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. If you used a large casserole dish/pan to roast the veggies in, you can just dump all of the additional ingredients (pasta etc.) into that pan to mix everything together (that’s what I’d recommend!). Using a wooden spoon, gently mix, until all the pasta is coated with the sauce and the ingredients are combined.

Step 5: Top the pasta with the remaining cheese (about 1/3 cup).

Step 6: Bake until top is golden and cheese melts, about 25 minutes.

I love how gooey and bubbly the cheese gets once it’s all melted!

The veggies were perfectly cooked, and the whole wheat pasta gave the dish a great nutty quality. This is definitely a husband favorite in our recipe book!

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