Pasta with a twist: Baked!!

So we've all heard of lasagnas being baked in ovens, and they're pastas, right? I never thought of actually baking short pasta (like penne, rigatoni, etc) before. A lot of the things I've been making are really simple to make, but the flavor you get in the end is just amazing.

This dish just takes time in the roasting and baking, and the rest is just about combining. Again, a little help from the store getting ready made sauces doesn't hurt! I used two types of sauces: a little bit of left over Ragu from the raviolis and a creamy marinara (I didn't even know they sold creamy marinara sauces in stores!!). I needed a whopping three cups of sauce for this, and I'm glad I didn't use any less because you don't want the pasta to be dry after it bakes. The recipe asked you to use all kinds of vegetables, but I omitted the summer squash because I wasn't sure if my family would like it. I used eggplant instead, and after roasting it, it was so creamy! Absolutely delicious. Another thing that I had to buy was herbs de provence. It's a mixture of herbs that both the Italians and French use. It was a little expensive, but I didn't want to compromise the taste of the roasted vegetables. The other vegetables were red bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, and I added a clove of garlic. I tossed these with salt, pepper, olive oil, and the herbs and popped them in the oven for a bit. Then after they were done roasting I mixed the pasta (which I boiled for about 6 minutes) and the sauces in, and put them in the glass baking dish and topped it with butter and some cheese and let it bake some more so the pasta could cook and all the flavors could mix).

The taste of this dish was different than any other I've ever made before. I usually make pasta with pesto, not marinara. But the creamy marinara was the really great addition, it wasn't too sweet, which is how some tomato sauces can taste. I used one pound of pasta- this turns into a lot because of all the vegetables! It's enough to serve 6 to 8 people I would say. So me and my family was snacking on this dish the day after I made it too!