Baked Pasta Primavera

Whenever we're leaving for a few days, it's time to clear out the fridge. 

Last week was no exception.But what to do for dinner?

This easy pasta dinner was adapted from a couple of online recipe sites as I didn't have some of the listed ingredients. So, I made substitutions. Do you do the same?

Baked Pasta Primavera & Cream Cheese Sauce
There is some prep time needed to chop and dice the veggies and then to make the sauce. You can substitute vegetables. For example, online recipes used cherry tomatoes and yellow squash. I prefer zucchini and found the assorted peppers we had more colorful.

• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1/2 C diced onion OR 2 shallots chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 C zucchini, chopped
• 1 red pepper, cholled
• 1/2 yellow pepper chopped
• 1/2 orange peper chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste and Italian seasonings
• 1-1/212 C cooked small penne pasta (or a similar pasta)

Sauce & Topping

• 1 TBSP melted butter
• 1 TBSP flour
• 1 C milk 
• 3/4 C grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
• 3/4 shredded mozzarella or Italian cheese mix
• 4 TBSP cream cheese
• 1 C panko bread crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and grease 9x13-inch (or round) baking dish.
2. Heat oil in skillet and cook onion and garlic until softened.
3. Add zucchini and peppers, season with salt and pepper and Italian seasonings. Sauté until vegetables are soft.
4. Mix vegetables with cooked pasta.
5. Melt butter in saucepan, then stir in flour. Stir and cook for 2 minutes then add milk slowly. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer and stir 5 minutes until thickened.
6. Add in parmesan and cream cheeses and stir to mix.
7. Put into baking dish with vegetables and pasta and combine. Add mozzarella cheese and cover with panko bread crumbs.

Bake 15 minutes until bubbly. Place under broiler for 3-4 minutes to brown breadcrumbs if desired. 

Leftovers will be appreciated the following night. Grenville gave this recipe a two forks up.