Baked Ziti With Vegetables And Mushrooms

Total Time: 40 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup onion (chopped)
• 1 cup green bell pepper (chopped)
• 1 cup red bell pepper (chopped)
• 1 1/2 cups portabella mushrooms or 1 1/2 cups cremini mushrooms (chopped) or 1 1/2 cups button mushrooms (chopped)
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 (14 1/2 ounce) can stewed tomatoes, undrained and chopped
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 7 cups spinach (about 1/2 pound)
• 2 1/4 cups ziti pasta
• cooking spray
• 1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese (grated)

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 375°.
• 2 heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. add onion and bell peppers, and sauté 5 minutes. add mushrooms and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. stir in basil, salt, black pepper, tomatoes, and tomato sauce, and bring to a boil. reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes or until slightly thick. stir in spinach; cook 1 minute or until spinach wilts. stir in pasta. spoon into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. dollop with ricotta.
• 3 cover and bake at 375° for 20 minutes. uncover; sprinkle with parmesan. bake an additional 5 minutes or until lightly browned.
• 4 note: to make ahead, assemble casserole as directed. cover and refrigerate overnight. let stand 30 minutes at room temperature, and bake as directed.