This Meatball Pasta Bake is a rich and delicious comfort food dish that you can also pack out with vegetables. An easy dish to make to feed a hungry crowd.
Preheat your oven to 190°C/170°C(fan)/375°F/Gas 5.
Put 250 g Penne pasta in a pan of boiling water and simmer for 12 minutes.
Heat 1 tablespoon Olive oil in a pan and when hot, add 12 Meatballs and cook stirring regularly - this will take around 10 minutes. Take them out of the pan and set aside.
Add 1 teaspoon Olive oil to the pan and add 2 Garlic clove, 0.5 Red onion, 0.5 Onion, 1 Courgette (zucchini), 1 Red bell pepper, 1 Green bell pepper and 8 Mushrooms. Gently cook for 3-4 minutes until softened.
Drain the pasta and put back in the pan with the cooked vegetables and 500 ml Passata, 1 tablespoon Dried oregano, 1 tablespoon Dried thyme, 2 tablespoon Tomato puree, 2 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar and 60 g Spinach and stir well.
Transfer to a large baking tray.
Add the meatballs.
Add 40 g Cheddar cheese and 40 g Mozzarella on top.
Put into your oven for 20 minutes.
Notes
Make this a little bit more indulgent by mixing some breadcrumbs with the cheese before crumbling it on top.
Give this dish a green veggie boost my mixing in some grated courgette (zucchini) and spinach when mixing it all together. You could even add vegetables in to the meatballs.
Make sure all the vegetables are chopped up really small, so they all cook well. You can use a chopping attachment on a food processor if you want to make it a bit easier.
Reserve a little of the pasta water to add to the sauce to make it nice and silky.
Like a kick of spice to your meals? Add some red chilli flakes in to the mix. Some Worcestershire Sauce goes well too.
You can make a vegan version of this by using your favourite vegan meatballs and using a vegan cheese alternative.
You can make this dish creamier by mixing some cream cheese in to the cooked pasta.