Baked Whole Wheat Penne with Beef and Summer Veggies

I’ve mentioned a few times in the last couple years that I’ve been shying away from making too many pasta recipes, as I’ve had to keep a closer eye on my weight (for annoying and boring reasons like injuries and stress).  But I have found a couple recipes that strike a good balance between feeling like delicious pasta goodness and not being just a calorie and carb bomb.

My baked ziti with chicken sausage and summer veggies was one such recipe, but I thought that it could be even healthier without feeling like I’m giving something up.  I usually make it with Trader Joe’s chicken sausage, but that adds quite a lot of calories, so I swapped that for lean ground beef or venison.  You can do it meatless as well, I’ve accidentally done that a few times and while you don’t get nearly the protein, it’s still very satisfying

I also used whole wheat penne or ziti instead of regular pasta, and packed in even more veggies so that my pasta to veggie ratio was about 1:1.  The core vegetables here are zucchini, squash, and tomato, but you can add other veggies if you want (I’ve thrown an orange pepper in before, for instance).

Preheat the oven to 400°.  Bring a large pot of water to boil and spray or grease a 9×13 baking pan.

When the water is boiling, add salt liberally and cook the pasta until al dente.  Drain.

While the pasta is cooking, cook the hamburger and season to taste.

Also, heat a large skillet over medium heat, add the oil, and the garlic, diced zucchini, squash, onion, and tomatoes.  Add some salt and pepper and the red pepper flakes.  Saute for 5-8 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.

Stir together the drained pasta, the vegetables, cooked ground beef, 1 cup of mozzarella, the fresh herbs, 1 teaspoon of salt, and a bit of black pepper.

Combine the ricotta, remaining salt, and eggs into a bowl.

Stir into the pasta mixture.  Spoon into the prepared pan, then sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella.

Bake at 400° for 10-15 minutes, or until bubbly and browned (everything is already cooked, this is just bringing it all together).

If you have leftover herbs, garnish with those and eat while hot!  This makes good leftovers as well, so I tend to make a big batch and eat it throughout the week at work.

Baked Ziti with Beef & Summer Veggies

• 16 ounces of uncooked ziti (I used whole wheat); you can use less
• 1 lb of lean ground beef (or venison)
• Spices for ground beef–garlic powder, salt, pepper, smoked paprika to taste
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 medium yellow squash, diced
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 1 medium yellow (or sweet) onion
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 2 cups (8 ounces) of shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
• 4 tablespoons of chopped fresh basil
• 4 teaspoons of chopped fresh oregano
• 1/2 tablespoon of salt, divided (plus salt for the pasta water)
• 1/4 teaspoon of crushed red pepper (or to taste)
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) of part-skim ricotta cheese
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1. Preheat the oven to 400°.  Bring a large pot of water to boil and spray or grease a 9×13 baking pan.
2. When the water is boiling, add salt liberally and cook the pasta until al dente.  Drain.
3. While the pasta is cooking, cook the hamburger and season to taste.  Also, heat a large skillet over medium heat, add the oil, and the garlic, diced zucchini, squash, onion, and tomatoes.  Add some salt and pepper and the red pepper flakes.  Saute for 5-8 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.
4. Stir together the drained pasta, the vegetables, cooked ground beef, 1 cup of mozzarella, the fresh herbs, 1 teaspoon of salt, and a bit of black pepper.
5. Combine the ricotta, remaining salt, and eggs into a bowl.  Stir into the pasta mixture.  Spoon into the prepared pan, then sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella. Bake at 400° for 10-15 minutes, or until bubbly and browned (everything is already cooked, this is just bringing it all together).

Original recipe here

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