This baked pasta dish is based on one of my most treasured pasta dishes that has consistently received raves. The big difference is that this is a vegetarian version.
Meaty portabella mushrooms and eggplant supplant the spicy sausage. A couple of colorful sweet peppers are added to the vegetable mélange for extra color and underlying faint sweetness. Don’t worry if your sheet pan looks over-filled.
As the vegetables bake, they begin to shrink. Don’t forget to toss the vegetables with tongs so they are evenly cooked. After 40 minutes the vegetables should look dark brown and smaller. (You can do this step one or two days before you put the dish together, if you want.)
The sauce is a Seriously Simple cook’s dream. Use best-quality bottled tomato sauce (I use Rao’s) and season it with leeks, garlic, and crushed red pepper. The surprise ingredient here is basil pesto, which adds a burst of herb freshness. Feel free to use store-bought fresh pesto or make your own with the recipe that follows. More green color and vegetable flavor is added with bright green spinach leaves that are mixed together just before the whole meal is placed in its baking dish.
While you can prepare this in one large baking dish, you can also divide this into smaller oven-ready containers and freeze them before baking. This one-dish vegetarian standout can be completely made a day ahead of serving, covered, and refrigerated. Whether it has been refrigerated or frozen, bring to room temperature before baking.
Serve this with a thinly sliced fennel and orange salad dressed with an assertive citrus vinaigrette. You can also serve this as a side vegetable pasta dish to grilled halibut or swordfish, shrimp, or chicken Milanese. To drink: How about a zesty California zinfandel or merlot? You could also serve a sauvignon blanc or light chardonnay, if you prefer a white wine.
Baked Mushroom and Eggplant Pasta With Smoked Gouda and Tomato Pesto
Serves 6 to 8 as a main dish; 8 to 10 as a side dish
For the Vegetables
- 1 pound portobello mushrooms, cleaned and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 pound eggplant, peeled and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
- 2 yellow, orange, or red peppers, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch strips
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- Salt and pepper
For the Sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 leeks, cleaned, light green and white part only finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 (26) ounce jars favorite marinara sauce
- 6 tablespoons favorite basil pesto or store-bought
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
For the Pasta
- 1 pound dried penne pasta
- 6-ounce bag baby spinach leaves
- 1/2 pound smoked Gouda or mozzarella, cut into small dice
- 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Oil a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.
For the vegetables: Place the mushrooms, eggplant, and sliced peppers on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Drizzle the 1/3 cup olive oil over the vegetables and sprinkle with salt and pepper. With tongs, move the vegetables around so that they are lightly coated with the oil. Roast for about 40 minutes, tossing them around after 20 minutes, or until nicely softened. Reserve. Lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees F.
For the sauce: Place a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add the oil. Add the leeks and saute 5 minutes or until nicely softened. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the tomato sauce and simmer on medium heat another 5 minutes, or until the sauce begins to thicken. Add the pesto, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper and mix to combine. Taste for seasoning. Spoon over a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan and reserve remaining sauce.
Meanwhile, add salt to a large pot of boiling water. Add pasta and cook over high heat until al dente, about 8 to 9 minutes. Drain well.
In a large bowl, combine the pasta with the remaining sauce, cubed smoked cheese, 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, and spinach leaves, mixing well to combine. Spoon the mixture into the prepared pan and sprinkle the remaining Parmesan cheese on top of the pasta.
Bake for about 30 minutes, or until the casserole begins to bubble and the cheese is browned.
