Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Quick Pasta for a Rainy Day

I make this dish when I don't have any other meal plans- or when my brother comes to dinner. He likes cheesy pasta. Basically, I cook some dried pasta, mix in a tomato sauce, cheese, vegetables and/or meat; dump into a casserole dish and heat in the oven until everything is pleasantly melted and warm. It's convenient because it usually looks pretty, can work with whatever you have, and is perfect for when you're not confident the rest of the dinner group will show up on time. It's easy to turn the oven on low and keep it indefinitely (we're not a microwave household).

Tonight I did it this way:
6 handfuls of dried penne
About 1 C of a chunky tomato sauce
1 zucchini, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, sqashed, peeled and minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 handful of fresh basil, torn
1 handful of baby spinach, torn
1/2 C shredded swiss cheese
1/2 C grated parmesan

1. Cook the penne.
2. Saute the garlic, onion and zucchini in the olive oil until softened.
3. Mix everything together in a casserole dish.
4. Warm in a 350F oven for 25min. or until everything is melted.

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