Tomato Pasta Cheese Bake

 

Readers to this blog, by now would have known my love for anything which would be remotely related to pasta, right? :)

So one evening, I was wondering what to eat, and as usual my mind suggested I make pasta. But having had pasta for the major part of the week, I knew the husband would crib if I fed him the same thing again. Some googling and some imagination led me to this recipe, and I immediately tried it.

And as usual, the husband told me that it was the best pasta I ever baked! :) (He does that for every new pasta recipe I make, always the same words! :))

Ingredients:

1 5’x5’ baking pan. I used a Borosil glass one
4 tomatoes, cut into quarter pieces
4 tbsp Olive oil
1 tbsp each of Oregano, Sage and Basil dried herbs
1 tbsp chilli flakes
Sea salt – To taste
1 cup boiled and made pasta. I used whole-wheat penne and fusilli.
Britannia Masala Mania cheese cube – 1, cut into pieces
2 tbsp shredded mozzarella cheese
Crumbs out of 1 wheat bread slice

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C
2. Place the quarter-cut tomatoes in the baking pan, sprinkle the herbs , chilli flakes and sea salt on the tomatoes. Drizzle this with the olive oil and bake for about 15-20 mins, or till the tomatoes are cooked, and are mashable
3. Once baked/cooked, mash the tomatoes into a sauce-like paste, with a spoon.
4. Mix the crumbs and the shredded mozzarella into this paste. This would thicken the sauce, if its too watery.
5. Add the cooked pasta into this paste, mix well.
6. Top this with the Britannia cheese pieces. Alternatively you can use cheddar also, but I love the flavours in this cheese, though its processed.
7. Bake for 10 mins, or till the cheese pieces turn into a golden brown. They are a serious treat! :)
8. Enjoy this pasta as it is or with a slice of warm bread.

The above pic is from the second time, when I used some zucchinis(I cooked them in olive oil and some herbs separately, and added after I mashed the tomatoes) and whole-wheat penne. I loved this version also equally. I even stored it to eat it as breakfast the next day, and it tasted better the next day.