Baked Vegetarian Ziti
You won't believe that this Baked Vegetarian Ziti contains five different vegetables and over 30 g of protein! True Italian comfort food, made delicious and easy.
Ingredients
- 1 white or yellow onion, peeled and cut into chunks
- 3 garlic cloves
- 8 ounces mushrooms, cleaned and stems removed
- 2 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
- 2 celery stalks, cut into chunks
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 28- ounce can tomato puree
- 16 ounces ziti or penne pasta, cooked
- 16 ounces cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg, just a pinch!
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Place the onion and garlic in the base of a food processor and pulse until very finely diced, like the photos above. Remove and set aside.
- Next, place the mushrooms in the base of a food processor and pulse until very finely diced, like the photos above. Remove and set aside.
- Finally, place the carrot and celery in the base of a food processor and pulse until very finely diced, like the photos above. Remove and set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a large pot and add the vegetables and salt. Cook until very soft and reduced, about 20 minutes, stirring often. Add in the tomato sauce and cook for an additional 5-10 minutes, stirring often, until thickened and combined. Taste, adding more salt, if desired.
- In a blender or food processor, puree the cottage cheese along with the nutmeg and pepper. Toss with the cooked ziti and 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese.
- In a 9 x 12 baking dish, layer 1/2 of the sauce mixture, the ziti mixture, and then the rest of the sauce. Top with the remaining cup of mozzarella cheese.
- Lightly tent the casserole with foil and place in the oven. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the foil and bake another 10-15 minutes until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted and golden brown.
- Remove, let cool for 5 minutes and dig in!
Notes
If you are using ricotta cheese, you don't have to blend it before combining with the cooked pasta, unless desired. I prefer using cottage cheese as it's less expensive and has more protein, but either works!