The perfect fusion of pasta casserole and meatball pasta with lots of veggies and melted pecorino cheese on top! Use store-bought vegan meatballs and vegan pasta cheese for a plant-based version.
Wash the broccoli, zucchini, and tomatoes thoroughly, clean the mushrooms with some kitchen paper. Cut the broccoli into small florets, quarter the zucchini lengthwise and slice it thinly. Sice the mushrooms thinly as well and cut the tomatoes in half. Set them aside while preparing the meatballs.
Meatballs
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F convection (or 200°C/400°F if you don’t have a convection oven). Knead or mix all ingredients for the meatballs with your hands or a spoon to a homogeneous mass.
Make 30 to 32 equal-sized meatballs with a diameter of about 4 cm or 1.6 inches and place them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Bake them in the oven for about 15 minutes. Then remove them from the oven, set aside and adjust the temperature to 160°C or 320°F (180°C/350°F if not using/having the convection function).
Vegetables & Pasta
Meanwhile, heat a teaspoon of oil in the pan and bring one pot of water to a boil. Add the broccoli to the pan and sauté it over medium-high to high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add the zucchini and sauté both over medium-high heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Next, add the mushrooms and sauté for another two to three minutes. Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Set aside some pasta water (300 to 400ml or 1 ½ cup) before draining.
Tomato Sauce
Transfert he vegetables to the baking dish, put the pan back on the stove, add the remaining olive oil and the tomatoes and sauté over medium heat for a few minutes. Meanwhile, peel and finely dice the garlic, pit the olives if necessary and chop them. Then add both to the tomatoes, sauté briefly and deglaze the sauce with the pasta water. Reduce the heat to low, season it with salt, pepper and the Puttanesca seasoning and let it simmer for one or two minutes.
Pasta Bake
Add the pasta and the tomato sauce to the vegetables, stir to combine. Add the meatballs and sprinkle the fresh grated cheese evenly on top of casserole. Place it in the oven for 15 minutes until the cheese is melted nicely, then serve.
Notizen
*Use vegan, store-brought meatballs for a meatless version and prepare them according to the package instruction before adding them to the pasta bake.**Feel free to use other vegetables such as kale, eggplant, or cauliflower. If desired use tinned cherry tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes. In this case make sure to use less pasta water.***Alternatively use parmesan cheese or a vegan pasta cheese instead.Nutritional Information per Serving:
calories: 522 kcal
fat: 18 g
carbohydrates: 47 g
protein: 42 g
Nährwerte
Calories: 522kcal
Keyword oven-baked meatball recipe, pasta bake with veggies and meatballs, pasta casserole recipe
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