I always want to try new recipes and I also don’t want to feed people something that they’ve already had at my house before so last night I decided to try out a couple of casserole recipes for the gang and this was the first.  The recipe is from “My Recipes” and it was very tasty.  The second casserole I made was quite different from this one (recipe to follow) and it was interesting to see who liked what.  We seemed to be pretty split with half the group deciding that this was their favorite and the other half deciding on the other casserole.  I liked them both!

salt and pepper

1 pound penne rigate (I didn’t have any penne so went with these which I think are called lumaconi rigati but I’m not positive)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 small onion, finely chopped

1 small red bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped

1 small yellow squash, chopped

1 small zucchini, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups (32 oz) spaghetti sauce

1/2 cup torn fresh basil

2 cups ricotta

12 ounces shredded Mozzarella

1/2 cup grated Parmesan

1  Preheat oven to 375.  Cook pasta according to package directions.

2  In a large skillet, warm oil over medium high heat.  Add onion and cook for 2 minutes, stirring.  Add bell pepper, squash, zucchini and garlic and saute for 7 minutes.  Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.

3  Drain pasta and return to pot.  Add spaghetti sauce, vegetables and basil and stir.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.  In a small bowl, mix together ricotta, 1 1/2 cups Mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan.

4  Mist a 9 x 13″ pan with cooking spray.  Spread half the pasta mixture in pan then drop spoonfuls of the ricotta mixture over the pasta and then cover with remaining pasta.  Sprinkle with remaining Mozzarella and Parmesan.  Bake until bubbling, about 35 minutes.  Allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving.

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