Pasta bake with veggies | pasta bake with white sauce | How to make baked pasta

As an Indian, our regular meal is either rice item or flat breads like rotis, parathas, naan etc with some curry. But whenever I think something out of the box for our meal, the first thing that clicks my mind is ‘PASTA’.

I love pasta and can have it in any form and in any preparation. Whether it is in white sauce or red sauce does not matter, I just love it. But when it comes to a baked pasta recipe, my affection gets double for the pasta.

Since my college days, I was curious about pasta and used to try all the varieties of pasta available in supermarket in rotational shift. I have used penne, elbow, fusilli, farfalle, fettucine, macaroni, rigatoni, spaghetti and many more pasta varieties to prepare different types of pasta recipes.

But I have never tried any pasta bake recipe before coming to London. But after preparing the baked pasta recipe for the first time at home, I have realized that nothing can be simpler as well as innovative than this preparation.

For Baked pasta recipe, the beauty of the preparation lies in the fact that you can prepare it with any combination of ingredients. You can use different types of pasta, vegetables, meats like chicken, ham, pork etc. which can also be either cooked or raw or with any fresh or canned fish like salmon, white fish etc.

You can also pick sauce of your own choice for baked pasta recipe like marinara, tomato basil, alfredo etc. The best part of the preparation is that in any combination, it tastes amazing.

In fact, you can use your favourite cheese too for the recipe. There is no rule to use any specific variety of cheese for pasta bake recipe.

Pasta bake with veggies is one of my favourites among all baked pasta recipe, especially the pasta bake with white sauce. When it comes to Pasta bake with veggies, I always get a green signal from my daughter and husband to add lots of vegetables. It is one of the easiest and delectable way to make my fussy family eat different types of healthy vegetables.

Whenever I cook different types of veggies with seasoning and herbs and mix it in homemade creamy white sauce with cooked pasta, it brings smile on everyone’s face.

After putting the casserole into the oven to prepare the pasta bake with white sauce, the whole house smells divine with the cheesy flavour and makes everyone hungry. My family gets eager to get a big portion of the melted cheese topped pasta bake with veggies on their plate to devour. It is always a fun to cook pasta bake recipe at home.

Pasta bake with veggies is our family favourite and I almost prepare it once in each month, except during the extreme hot months because I avoid long usage of oven for those days. It makes the house hotter.

As I said, there is no rule to cook Pasta bake with veggies. It is a very simple and easy recipe. It gets prepared with very basic ingredients which are easily available in any kitchen pantry. The only thing that is required to prepare the dish is time. You need to be a little bit patient to assemble the ingredients in layers and to bake it. As we all know, baked pasta recipe is a special dish, so it’s completely worth to spend each second on it.

Pasta bake with veggies with step by step photos and instructions have been provided in the ‘Instructions’ section of the recipe. If you follow the steps properly then you will get the perfect result for the dish. I can bet you that after trying this super easy recipe, you are going to stop ordering baked pasta from takeaway.

What type of vegetables to be used for Pasta bake with veggies?

As I have already mentioned, there is no hard and fast rule to add veggies in this pasta bake with white sauce. But one thing that needs to be taken of while selecting the veggies is the way of cooking them for the recipe. Few veggies can be directly added raw into the casserole to bake. But few veggies need to be cooked before adding into the casserole before baking.

Vegetables which can be added raw

Frozen vegetables can be added raw for baking after thawing them completely. Frozen vegetables get soften as compared to fresh vegetables after thawing. Mushrooms and frozen peas can also be added into the pasta directly.

Vegetables which need to be cooked before adding

Fresh vegetables like onions, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots etc. need to be cooked before adding into the pasta before baking.

How to make baked pasta?

To prepare the Pasta bake with veggies, I have used fusilli pasta. But you can also use other variety of pasta too. Check the instruction section of the package of pasta at the back and cook it accordingly for 1-2 minutes lesser because the pasta is going to be baked further. Overcooking may spoil the texture of the dish.

For the Pasta bake with veggies, I have used garlic, onion, broccoli florets, carrots and peas. I have selected fresh vegetables. So, it was necessary to cook before letting them go to bake. I have taken a pan and caramelized the garlic and onion in olive oil. Then I have cooked all the veggies till tender. I have added some seasoning and cumin powder, black pepper powder, smoked paprika and mixed herbs for flavouring. Mixed herb is the combination of equal portion of thyme, oregano, basil, parsley and marjoram.

Then I have mixed the cooked pasta into the veggies and mixed them evenly after switching off the flame.

For the pasta bake with white sauce, I have prepared the white sauce at home. Though many varieties of white sauce jars are readily available in market, but I always prefer the homemade sauce over the readymade.

For the white sauce, first I have added butter into a pan. Then I have added all-purpose flour into it and cooked it till it changed its colour to light brown. After this, I added milk into it and whisked it vigorously with the help of a whisker to make it smooth and lumps free. Then cooked it until the sauce thickens. Then I added medium sharp cheddar cheese to it. You can add any cheese of your choice. I have cooked it slowly until the cheese melted. Then switched off the flame and added seasoning, crushed black pepper, dried basil and mixed it nicely.

Now, it’s time to accumulate all the components together into a single roaster. For me, this is the most interesting part of the recipe where you can draw the picture according to your taste.

Take a casserole and add half of the veggie pasta mix into the casserole or roaster and spread it evenly. Make sure there are no holes or gaps in between. The veggie pasta must be spread uniformly. Then pour half of the white sauce on the veggie pasta and spread it uniformly with the help of a rubber spatula. Sprinkle cheese over it. Be generous during the time of sprinkling the cheese. Sprinkle some crushed black pepper and dried basil on the top of cheese.

Repeat the whole process once again and make the second layer of it. Transfer the casserole into the preheated oven of 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6 for 25-30 minutes until the cheese on the top melts and golden scar occurs on it.

Ingredients:

• ½ package (8 oz) uncooked pasta (like fusilli, penne, ziti)
• 1 teaspoon Salt
• Water, as required to boil the pasta

• 1 Broccoli, medium florets
• 1 large Carrot, medium diced
• ¼ cup Peas
• 1 white Onion
• 3-4 clove of Garlic
• 1 teaspoon smoked Paprika
• 1 teaspoon mixed Herb
• ½ teaspoon Cumin powder
• ½ teaspoon Black Pepper powder
• Salt to taste
• Oil for cooking

• 2 cups Milk
• 1 tablespoon Butter
• 1 and ½ tablespoon all-purpose Flour
• 2 tablespoon Cheddar Cheese
• ½ teaspoon dried Basil
• ½ teaspoon crushed Black Pepper
• ½ teaspoon Salt

• 1 cup Cheddar cheese
• ½ teaspoon crushed Black pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried Basil

1. Add water into a large utensil to boil.
2. Add some salt into the water.
3. When the water is about to boil, add pasta into it.
   

4. Cook the pasta 1-2 minutes lesser than what is provided on the package instructions.
5. Once they are done, strain the water and keep them aside.
   

6. On the other side, add some oil in a pan.
7. Once the oil is hot, add chopped garlic and cook it till golden.
   

8. Add the chopped onions into the pan and fry them in medium flame for 4-5 minutes. Stir when required.
   

9. Add broccoli florets, carrots, peas into the pan and give a nice mix.
   

10. Cover the pan and cook it in low flame for 5-6 minutes.
11. Add salt and mix it nicely.
    

12. Cover the pan and cook it for another 4-5 minutes until all the vegetables get tender. Stir in between if required.
    

13. Add smoked paprika, cumin powder, black pepper powder, mixed herb into the pan and mix it nicely.
    

14. Cook it in low flame for another 1-2 minutes and switch off the flame.
    

15. Add the cooked pasta (Step 5) into the pan and mix it properly.
    

16. For the white sauce, take another pan on flame.
17. Add 1 tablespoon butter into the pan.
    

18. Put the flame in low and allow it to bubble.
19. Add all-purpose flour into the pan and mix it nicely.
    

20. Cook it in low flame for 1-2 minute.
21. Add 2 cups of milk into the pan and whisk it vigorously. Make sure there are no lumps.
    

22. Cook it in medium flame for some time until the sauce starts thickening.
    

23. Add 2 tablespoons cheddar cheese into the pan and stir it until the cheese melts.
    

24. Switch off the flame.
25. Add salt, crushed black pepper, dried basil into the pan and mix it nicely. Keep the sauce aside.
    

26. Take a 22 cm casserole or roaster and add half of the veggie pasta mix (Step 15) into it in a thin layer uniformly without any gaps.
27. Pour half of the white sauce on the pasta and spread it evenly with the help of a rubber spatula.
28. Sprinkle ½ cup cheddar cheese over it uniformly in a single layer.
29. Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon of crushed black pepper and ½ teaspoon dried basil over the cheese.
    

30. Repeat the whole layering process once again with rest of the ingredients.
    

31. Transfer the roaster into the middle of the preheated oven of 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6 for 25-30 minutes. Bake it until the cheese on the top melts and golden scar occurs on it. For me, it exactly took 26 minutes.
    
    

Keywords:
baked pasta recipe, pasta bake recipe, how to make baked pasta, pasta bake with vegetables, pasta dishes with vegetables, pasta bake with veggies, baked pasta with veggies, easy pasta bake recipe, pasta bake recipe easy, baked pasta recipe easy, pasta bake recipe vegetarian, pasta bake recipe vegetable, baked pasta recipe vegetarian, pasta dishes with veggies, white sauce pasta bake, white sauce for pasta bake, pasta bake with white sauce, how to make baked pasta with cheese, baked pasta with vegetables and cheese, white sauce pasta bake recipe, white sauce pasta bake recipes, recipe of baked pasta in white sauce, veggie pasta bake with white sauce, pasta bake with white sauce recipes