Veggie Pasta Bake

This is an easy, yummy, and cheap meal that can be prepared ahead of time and heated in the oven for the finishing touch. It makes amazing leftovers. We love it because we always have plenty to take to work the next day.

It can be modified to be vegetarian and you can swap out or add in any seasonal vegetables, herbs or beef mince if you want to.

This recipe makes 4-6 servings, depending on if you go back for seconds.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon of grape seed oil (or similar of your choice)

¼ red or brown onion diced

1 teaspoon chopped garlic

½ red capsicum diced

½ green capsicum diced

2 cups broccoli chopped into small pieces

1 can red kidney beans

1 can brown lentils

1 can black beans

2 cans chopped tomatoes

200 grams pasta

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1 teaspoon dried dill

1 teaspoon dried sweet basil

1 teaspoon ground nut meg

1 cube stock* (beef/veggie)

Ground black pepper

Dash of Worcestershire sauce*

Chopped fresh parsley

1½ cup loose grated cheese

* can be swapped or left out for vegetarian option

Method

1. Preheat oven to 200°C or 392°F fan bake.
2. Place broccoli in boil of bowling water and cook on high in microwave for 3 minutes.
3. Put pasta in pot of boiling water to cook.
4. In a frying pan heat oil and add onion and cook until soft.
5. Add garlic and capsicum and heat.
6. Drain beans and lentils and add to frying pan. Add tomatoes and broccoli and stir.
7. Add dried herbs, nut meg, stock cube, black pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Add parsley and stir well.
8. Drain pasta and place in oven proof dish. Add bean mixture and combine.
9. Push mixture down so it is sitting flat and top with grated cheese.
10. At this stage you can place in the fridge to bake later or place in oven. The pasta bake is ready when you can see the mixture bubbling and the cheese is golden.