Description
This Spicy Baked Pasta with Vegetarian Meatballs is really quick and easy to make, but it looks and tastes kinda fancy!
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 lb dried pasta, bite sized is best for this recipe
- 1 package vegetarian meatballs, you could make your own but store-bought are much easier and so good!
- 1 1/2 (24 oz) jars pasta sauce, or 1 bigger jar
- Crushed calabrian chili peppers, to taste (I usually use between 1-2 tablespoons depending on how spicy I want it)
- 2 cups shredded cheese (I recommend something like Monterey Jack, mozzarella, provone or parmesan)
Instructions
- Pre-heat your oven to 425 degrees F. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add your dry pasta. Cook pasta according to package directions (I like to add a spoonful of salt to help flavor the pasta since there aren’t many ingredients in this recipe), drain and add back into the pot.
- While the pasta is cooking, I like to heat a large pan over medium heat with a small amount of olive oil and brown the meatballs. You don’t have to cook them all the way through because they will cook in the oven, but I like to get brown them for a few minutes before adding them into the pasta. This step is totally optional though! You can just put the meatballs straight in frozen.
- Add your pasta sauce and Calabrian chili peppers to the pot of pasta and mix well. Give it a taste and add extra peppers or salt, if needed. This is the point where you could stir in some veggies (peas, cooked broccoli, spinach, kale, etc) if you wanted to.
- Add pasta to a large baking dish, whatever shape you like, and spread pasta out. Next, top with about 3/4 of the grated cheese. Then, place the meatballs on top of the pasta and gently press them down a little bit. Top with remaining cheese and cover with foil.
- Bake pasta with foil for about 15 minutes, uncover and bake until cheese is completely melted and pasta is bubbly, 5-10 more minutes. I like to top the pasta bake with a few small spoonfuls of Calabrian chili peppers to show what is in the pasta and to reinforce that delicious flavor. You can also garnish with fresh herbs if desired.
Notes
Lots of helpful notes in the recipe post!
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 30 mins
- Category: Dinner, Vegetarian
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian Inspired
