Recipe 349 - Green Vegetable Pasta Bake

The name of this one is not all that appealing ;-) This was one of those days where I wanted lots of veggies in a meal but the family wanted something that wasn't soup. We decided on this recipe.

Being vegetarian we left out the meat, though I am thinking I should have replaced it with some toasted nuts. I used the food processor to shred the onion, spinach and broccoli. On my part I also sprinkled a bit of powder chipotle before baking mmmm

This was interesting. I liked the concept of it (and the next day leftovers were pretty good) but it seemed to be missing something (maybe nuts?). I loved how many green veggies were in this, there was over 8 cups of green stuff! The Princess liked it but it wasn't her favorite (she said it needed ALOT more cheese). The Dragon picked out all the pasta pieces and would only eat those.

Veggie Pasta Bake
from http://www.generationyfoodie.com/2012/02/green-vegetable-and-pasta-casserole.html

• 1 lb whole wheat pasta (shells, elbows, penne, ect…)
• 4 ounces spinach
• 10 ounces broccoli
• 1 medium onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
• 3/4 cup skim milk
• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup  grated Parmesan
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 350

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain and set aside

Shred spinach and broccoli in a food processor (you can also just finely chop) In a large mixing bowl, combine shredded spinach and broccoli. Dice garlic and onion and add to veggie mixture (or chop in food processor). Puree basil leaves and add to veggie mixture. Mix in red pepper, black pepper, 1/4 cup Parmesan.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together milk and ricotta. Toss veggies, cooked pasta and milk/cheese mixture together, coat all pasta thoroughly

Spray casserole dish with olive oil cooking spray. Pour pasta mixture into casserole dish and spread evenly.  Top remaining Parmesan

Bake at 350 for 15 minutes until cheese bubbles

Servings: 8