Between college, work and attempting to keep some kind of personal/social life going! I have been heavily relying on easy to throw together meals recently. They are even better if they can be made in one dish. Creating less washing up! This One Dish Oven Baked Tomato Cheese Pasta has become a bit of a lifesaver of late. Quick and easy to make. It can be easily adapted to what you have in the fridge and it has melted cheese in it!!! Three different kinds of tomatoes are complimented by two kinds of cheese, with plenty of herbs for flavour. So what more could you ask for in a cosy warming Autumnal meal?
Cheese & Tomato.
This is a classic flavour combination and one that is hard to go wrong with. Add a few herbs and a touch of oil and you have the perfect base for a simple pasta dish. By any means add a protein to this if you are a meat eater but I find the simple ingredients to perfectly compliment each other.
We have two kinds of cheese, mozzarella and mature (sharp) cheddar. Mozzarella has a lovely mild and creamy flavour to it and it goes all gooey when melted whereas the cheddar has a stronger more pronounced flavour. The two combine perfectly.
For the tomatoes, we have three different kinds, chopped tinned plum tomatoes, fresh cherry tomatoes and passata. Passata should be made from the San Marzano tomato. Here is an amusing article on Passata by Rose Prince from The Telegraph, with a more in-depth look at passata and how it is made for those interested.
What else?
We have lots of fresh and dried herbs for flavour. Fresh basil and flat leaf parsley and some dried oregano. Some garlic granules and of course a little fresh onion. I also added in some fresh baby spinach leaves, they are a good source of iron and fibre so they are an all-around win.
The great thing about this dish is its a dump and go meal. It then all goes in one dish. It is covered with tin foil, then it goes in the oven. Remove the foil for the last 15 minutes and serve. It’s ridiculously simple to make the one dish oven baked tomato cheese pasta.
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One Dish Oven Baked Tomato Cheese Pasta
Ingredients
- 200 grams macaroni pasta (1 and 1/2 cups)
- 400 grams tinned chopped tomatoes (14 ounces)
- 10 cherry tomatoes - halved
- 1 medium white onion - sliced
- 1 medium red onion - sliced
- 250 grams passata (1 cup)
- 80 millilitres water (1/3 cup)
- 3 tablespoons fresh basil - chopped
- 2 tablespoons fresh flat-leafed parsley - chopped
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic granules
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 65 grams baby spinach leaves (2 and 1/4 ounces)
- 130 grams mozzarella cut into strips (4 and 1/4 ounces)
- 60 grams grated mature cheddar (1 cup)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200C/400F/Gas mark 6 and lightly grease a large ovenproof dish, then place to one side.
- In a medium-sized mixing bowl add in the pasta, tinned tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, sliced onion, passata, water, herbs, seasoning and baby spinach leaves and gently mix everything together.
- Pour half of this mix into your ovenproof dish.
- Sprinkle half of your sliced mozzarella over the mix then cover with the remaining pasta mixture.
- Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella and the cheddar over the top and cover with tin foil.
- Pop this into your hot oven for 30 minutes.
- After this time remove the foil and continue cooking for a further 10 - 15 minutes. You are looking for the cheese to start to turn golden and most of the liquid to have been absorbed by the pasta.
- Take your dish out of the oven and serve.
- Any left-overs can be stored in the fridge once cool and must be eaten within 3 days. Reheat in a microwave for a few minutes or enjoy cold.
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Your oven baked tomato pasts looks scrumptious, Emma. Love how full of veggies this is. Sounds like a perfect weekend treat. I so want this for dinner tonight.
Thanks, Anu. There is very little better than pasta, cheese and veggies 😀
Hi Emma! Your Baked Tomato Cheese Pasta looks so cheesy and comforting and warm and delicious!! 🙂 I especially crave dishes like this now that the weather is cooling down! So good!!!
I couldn’t agree more Alia, the cold weather just makes me want to eat carbs and starchy foods so much.
I am in love with pasta dishes, I could eat it 7 days a week at every meal if I had to. The flavours in this dish are AMAZING!!!
And it is great that it is a one dish meal…also love the easy way out of using too many dishes. Thank you for helping me add to my stash of pasta recipes. 100% PINNING!
Thanks Ashika, I’m like you I too could eat pasta 7 days a week 😀
Looks Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm: ) love pasta with lots of veggies and cheese
Thanks Balvinder, very little in life beats pasta, cheese and veggies 😀
Oh girl this pasta dish sounds amazing! I am currently contemplating dinner and I might have to make this 🙂 I love that its baked too, it makes it extra cozy.
Thank you Cara, I am all about warm and comforting meals when the seasons change 😀
love how cozy this sounds! i’d probably add some garlic too, but that’s just because i’m a garlic fiend (;
I love garlic too Heather, I was out that day so I used garlic granules instead, they are a great substitute when you discover you’re out!!! Totally annoying….
It looks so delicious, hearty and welcoming! Next time I’ve a nice dinner, I’ll do the same 🙂
Its hard to beat a warming pasta meal!
this is pretty much my definition of comfort food! great mixture of fresh and pantry ingredients. 🙂
Thanks Grace 🙂
Absolutely love these one pan dump and bake kind of meals. It has just been crazy here too and need more time saving meals. This looks so good and love additional veggies. Great video too! Sharing, of course!
Thank you 🙂 One pan dump and go meals are the best, especially if you are busy and time is tight!
What a great pasta dish, love all the tomatoes and spinach you added.
Thank you Cheri 😀
Oh man, recipes like this one make me truly miss pasta!
I must admit while I love spiralled veggies and I even quite like the new range of ‘fake’ pastas that have arrived on the scene. Nothing really beats the real thing every once in a while.
I love that you have packed plenty of veggies in this baked pasta…healthy, comforting and delicious!
Thanks Angie, I always feel you can never have enough veggies, especially if they are covered in cheese!