Butternut Squash Baked Pasta with Portobello Mushrooms and Zucchini

A yummy baked dish that will leave you warm and content on a cool fall day. This recipe shows you how to make a homemade tomato sauce with butternut squash, mushrooms and zucchini. You could make a similar delicious pasta bake by using your own recipe for tomato sauce or a pre-prepared version and adding some fresh vegetables too! This recipe also uses soy ground round for a protein source, if you'd like an alternative to soy you can use 2 to 3 cups of chickpeas or edamame instead, which will compliment the flavours of this dish well.

Butternut Squash Pasta Bake

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic

1 can tomatoes (low/no sodium)

1/2 butternut squash, chopped (2 cups)

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp dried thyme

1/2 tsp pepper

pinch of salt

2 zucchini, diced

4 portobello mushrooms, diced

1 pack veggie ground round

8 cups cooked pasta

1/2 ball of mozzarella cheese, shredded

Instructions:

1. Warm oil in large pot at medium heat. Add onions and saute for 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for 2 minutes more.

2. Add 1 can of tomatoes, chopped butternut squash and 1/4 of can water. Add basil, parsley, thyme, pepper and salt. Bring to a boil. Reduce to medium to medium-low heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, cook and drain pasta noodles. Penne, rigatoni, or scoobi-doo (above) are good choices for this dish.

4. Once butternut squash is tender, using a hand blender, puree until a nice smooth sauce.

5. Add zucchini, mushrooms and ground round. Cook for 5 minutes more at medium-heat.

6. Mix pasta noodles with sauce in a large pot and pour into a large baking tray. Top with grated cheese.

7. Cover with tin foil and bake in oven for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Remove tinfoil for last 5 minutes of baking.

8. Serve warm alone or with a green, leafy salad.

Enjoy!

Much love & good eating,

Stephanie