How to Make an Easy One Dish Vegetable Pasta Bake

You absolutely need this vegetable pasta bake in your life right now! Not only is it crazy good for you – but it’s packed with veggies, requires NO precooking whatsoever and tastes absolutely flippin’ delicious!! It’s also both vegetarian and vegan, making it ideal if you want a sneaky veggie boost.

Here is what you will need to serve 4.

1/2 Red Pepper, Finely Diced
1/2 Yellow Pepper, Finely Diced
1/2 Courgette, Finely Diced
1/2 Small Onion, Finely Diced
200g (7 oz) Dried Penne Pasta
1 x 400g (14 oz) Tin Chopped Tomatoes
400ml (1 + 2/3 Cup) Vegetable Stock
2 tsp Italian Seasoning
Salt & Pepper
30g (1/3 Cup) Grated Vegan Cheese, Optional *
1 tbsp Dried Breadcrumbs, Optional

Essential Equipment

26 cm Round Oven Proof Dish (or similar)

*You can absolutely use regular cheese if you don’t need to make it vegan.

Step 1: Prep That Veg

First thing’s first, let’s preheat that oven to 200°C/Fan 180°C.

Now onto the veggies! If you haven’t already, finely dice the red pepper (1/2), yellow pepper (1/2), courgette (1/2) and onion (1/2 small). Try and keep them less than 1 cm square, particularly the courgette. This ensures it will cook through.

Step 2: Throw It In...

Tip all that wonderful veg into your oven proof dish then add in that pasta (200g | 7 oz).

Step 3: Stir Things Up

Then stir in the chopped tomatoes (1 x 400g | 14 oz tin), vegetable stock (400ml | 1 + 2/3 Cup) and Italian seasoning (2 tsp).

Step 4: Season...

Add a generous helping of salt and pepper then give it all a really good stir.

Step 5: Bake!

Finally, cover it with foil and bake for 25 minutes in the preheated oven. It should be about three quarters cooked when you take off the foil.

Step 6: Time for Cheese!

Give it a really good stir to make sure everything will cook evenly then scatter over the vegan cheese (30g | 1/3 Cup) and 1 tbsp of dried breadcrumbs.

Pop back into the oven, uncovered, for approx 15-20 mins to allow the pasta and vegetables to finish cooking and the vegan cheese/breadcrumbs to become golden.

Of course you can always use regular cheese if you don’t require it to be suitable for vegans.

If you choose not to add the “cheese”/breadcrumbs, simply remove the foil and cook for a further 15-20 mins until the pasta and vegetables are cooked through.