HEALTHY SPINACH ZUCCHINI PARMESAN PASTA BAKE
In an attempt to include pasta in my diet, but keep things healthy, I made up this concoction! The green sauce is pure goodness, the zucchini layer is crisp and garlicky, the butter beans add a creamy pop and the cottage cheese blobs could be mistaken for buratta. All in all a delicious healthier version of a classic. Packed with plant based protein, this mega dish is a good one for meal prep as well !
Ingredients
Method
Equipment: Large flat baking tray, tall edged baking tray, large pot, strainer, microplane, nutribullet (or any high speed blender)
Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Line the flat tray with paper and drizzle with oil. Drizzle tall edged tray with oil as well.
Slice mushrooms, place in tall edged tray and generously season with salt, pepper and a little more oil. Bake for 25 minutes.
Slice zucchini, arrange in a single layer on the flat tray, scatter half the garlic over the top, add salt and pepper and drizzle a little oil over the top, bake for 25 mins.
Whilst the veggies are baking, bring a large pot of water to the boil.
Cook pasta 2 minutes less than the packet says. Reserve 3/4 cup of pasta water before draining, set aside.
Strain the butter beans and set aside.
In a nutribullet or high speed blender, place 3/4s of the baby spinach, lemon zest and juice, the rest of the garlic, 3/4s of the cottage cheese, the reserved pasta water, salt, pepper and a tablespoon of olive oil. Blend until smooth. It will be runny - that is good!
Now to assemble - add the cooked pasta into the tray with the mushrooms. Add the green sauce, butter beans and remaining spinach leaves. Mix well so everything is coated.
Dollop the top with little puddles of cottage cheese. Now for the final layer, place the cooked zucchini discs over the top, covering all the pasta. Generously sprinkle Parmesan all over the top.
Bake for 30 minutes or until the zucchini is golden and the aroma of garlic is scintillating.
Keeps for up to 5 days refrigerated in an airtight container.
This can be fully assembled ahead of time before baking.
Serves 6 - 8
500g spiral pasta
Water (salted), for boiling
500g mushroom, thickly sliced
2 large zucchini, sliced into 4mm discs
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
250g fresh baby spinach
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
500g cottage cheese
1 tbs olive oil
400g can butter beans, drained
50g Parmesan, grated with a microplane
Salt and pepper
