I’ll be the first to admit that the photos I took of this vegetable pasta bake are absolutely rubbish.

One set was taken at night because I made it for supper, and the other set was taken of the leftovers that I devoured for lunch the next day. The unappetizing pictures are a very poor representation of the lip-smacking yumminess of this meal!

It reminded me of one of the rich, flavourful meals that my oma, who is a superb cook, would make for us. Each bite was heavenly.

In case that is not proof enough that you should try out this vegetable pasta bake right this minute, my mom made it known that it is the best pasta bake she’s ever had.

Now that I’ve convinced you to give this pasta bake a go, let’s dive into the technicalities!

How To Make This Vegetarian Pasta Bake

This vegetarian pasta bake may seem a bit complex, but actually, it’s quite simple.

To make it even simpler, you can leave out the white sauce and have just pasta with the delicious vegetable sauce, rather than a bake. I promise you that the pasta sauce is a WINNER! Not just delicious but versatile as well ;)…

There are three components, the pasta (obviously!), the rich vegetable and tomato sauce, and the simple white sauce.

Making The Pasta

To make the pasta, it’s as easy as following the instructions on the packet. I recommend cooking it al dente (firm to the bite) because it will continue to cook in the oven, and you don’t want it getting mushy.

I used macaroni in my pasta bake, but other options include penne, ‘bowtie’, fusilli, ‘shells’, etc. Basically, I imagine you could use whatever pasta you have stored up in the pantry!

Once your pasta is cooked, simply set it off to the side for later use.

Making the Vegetable Sauce for the Pasta Bake

The vegetable tomato sauce is the next component to be made. This is probably the hardest, just because it has many different ingredients.

Start off by heating up the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. You’ll then add the red onion, baby brinjals, mushrooms, and red pepper, sautèing until lightly browned.

Next, you’ll add in the garlic and chilli, and stir. I put these in after the main sautèing of the veggies as they tend to burn quite easily.

Next, tip in the crushed tomatoes. Using the vegetable stock solution, swill out the tomato tins and add the mixture to the saucepan.

Now add the tomato paste, salt, pepper, and sprig of rosemary. Give everything a good stir then reduce to lowest heat and simmer with the lid on, stirring occasionally.

Remove the saucepan from the heat and remove the sprig of rosemary, then add in the black olives and chopped basil.

By the way, this sauce is absolutely delish. If you don’t have the time to go the full monty with the bake, this sauce with the pasta would still be an absolute winner.

Making the White Sauce

Lastly, you need to make the white sauce. This is the sort of thing that many people just know how to make by heart. If that’s you, please don’t feel the need to make this specific recipe!

I always start off by melting the butter in a small pot. Once it is all melted I add in the flour and stir vigorously. The flour and butter should for a lumpy sort of paste.

If it’s your first time making a white sauce you may want to use a whisk the avoid those annoying lumps that pop out of nowhere!

Once you’ve mixed the butter and flour together, immediately start pouring in the milk, slowly! Pour it in little by little, and don’t. Stop. Stirring!

Continue this process until a smooth sauce forms, about the consistency of a pancake batter. Stir in the salt and pepper, and remove from heat. Stir in the freshly grated parmesan, and your white sauce is done!

Assembling & Cooking the Vegetable Pasta Bake

To assemble the dish, simply mix the vegetable and tomato sauce together with the pasta and stir. Scoop this into a large, lightly greased dish, and top off with the white sauce and grated mozzarella.

Pop this into the oven and take an opportunity to get the mess cleaned up with your favourite songs blasted at an unacceptable volume.

This rich, delicious dish is ready to enjoy when the top is lightly browned, and it smells heavenly!

Serving & Storing the Vegetable Pasta Bake

I like it with a green salad on the side, but you can definitely also have it just by itself.

If you have any leftovers (after stuffing yourself dilly) refrigerate in an airtight container and enjoy the next day, heated up in the microwave (or cold!).

Print Recipe

Rich & Tasty Vegetable Pasta Bake

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Dinner

Serves: 6

Prep Time: 50 minutes – Cooking Time: 20-30 minutes – Total Time: 1 hours 20 minutes

A flavourful and rich vegetarian dish that will even have the meat-lovers back for seconds, thirds...and fourths!!

Ingredients

• 500g macaroni (substitute with penne, ‘bowtie’, fusilli, ‘shells’, etc.)
• For the vegetable pasta sauce
• 2T olive oil
• 2 small red onions, sliced
• 3 baby brinjals, cubed
• 2 large mushrooms, chopped (2 cups chopped mushroom)
• 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 chilli, deseeded and chopped
• 2 fresh garlic cloves, minced
• 800g (2 tins) chopped Italian tomatoes
• 1 tsp vegetable stock (or one stock cube) dissolved in ½ cup boiling water
• 3T tomato paste
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch of salt
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 15 black olives, pitted and halved
• 4 big leaves basil, chopped
• White Sauce
• 40g butter
• 5T flour
• Milk (about 500ml)
• ½ tsp salt
• Pepper to taste
• ¼ cup freshly grated parmesan
• To Top
• Handful grated mozzarella (about ½ cup) -optional

Instructions

1

Cook the macaroni al dente according to the packet’s instructions.

Vegetable Pasta Sauce

2

Heat up the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the red onion, baby brinjals, mushrooms, and red pepper. Sautè until lightly browned, about 10 minutes.

3

Add the garlic and chilli, and stir. Tip in the crushed tomatoes. Using the stock solution, swill out the tomato tins and add the mixture to the saucepan.

4

Add the tomato paste, salt, pepper, and sprig of rosemary. Give everything a good stir then reduce to lowest heat and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

5

Remove the saucepan from the heat and remove the sprig of rosemary, then add in the black olives and chopped basil.

White Sauce

6

Whilst the vegetable pasta sauce simmers away, start the white sauce.

7

Melt the butter in a small pot, then add the flour and stir until well combined.

8

Add the milk little by little, stirring continuously, until the sauce becomes smooth and thins out. You want about the consistency of a pancake batter, not too thin, not too thick. To avoid lumps, try using a whisk.

Assembling & Cooking

9

Preheat the oven to 180°C and lightly grease a large ovenproof dish.

10

Mix together the pasta and vegetable sauce then scoop the mixture into the large ovenproof dish.

11

Spread all of the white sauce over the pasta in an even layer. Finish off by sprinkling over the mozzarella.

12

Place in the middle of the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

Notes

Keep leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container and heat up to enjoy in the following few days.

For a one-page recipe printout, please view this google doc.

For more vegetarian recipes visit this deLishas Food vegetarian page.