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Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Roasted Garden Tomato Turkey Pasta Bake

Why can't you take a turkey to church?
Because, it has fowl language.


Ready? Five times fast? "Roasted Garden Tomato Turkey Pasta Bake, Roasted Garden Tomato Turkey Pasta Bake, Roasted Garden Tomato Turkey Pasta Bake, Roasted Garden Tomato Turkey Pasta Bake, Roasted Garden Tomato Turkey Pasta Bake, Roasted Garden Tomato Turkey Pasta Bake."  Let me know if you come up with an easier name for this dish.

Last night, I was totally craving some kid food.  Like Hamburger Helper or box Mac and Cheese...I settled on Pasta Bake (which is pretty standard kid food, unless you have those fancy kids, like the ones that always want sushi and foie gras...not to hate on sushi, I had that Monday night.)  The garden tomatoes on our kitchen counter have been piling up and eyeing me the past couple of days, so I thought I would teach them a lesson by roasting those suckers.  Making your own sauce is super easy and way more tasty, just do it already.

Here's What You Need (for a big ol' pan full):
a variety of garden tomatoes (large and grape), about 2-3 cups of
2 ish teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil, plus the same
basil
thyme
oregano
rosemary
parsley
salt and pepper to taste
6 cloves of garlic, peeled, kept whole, plus 1 teaspoon of minced garlic
1/2 a large onion or 1 small-medium sized onion, diced
1 orange pepper, diced  (you could sub red or green if you felt like it)
1 yellow pepper, diced
1 pack of ground turkey, approximately 1.2 pounds
1 15 ounce can of tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups of finely grated mozzarella cheese
1 package of Rigatoni pasta, approximately 1 pound
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese



Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  Add garden tomatoes to a roasting pan with 2-3 teaspoons of extra virgin olive oil, slice the larger ones.

Toss tomatoes and olive oil and top with fresh basil, oregano, and thyme.

Add fresh ground pepper and rosemary-kosher salt, or Kosher Salt and Rosemary if you don't have any flavored salt on hand.

Place in oven.

Realize you forgot to add garlic and add 5 peeled whole cloves to the pan.  Roast for 30 minutes.

Get 1/2 a large onion, 1 orange pepper and 1 yellow pepper out.

Dice onion and peppers.

Add olive oil to a large pan on medium high heat.

Add onion.

Add diced peppers.


Mix together.  Add salt and pepper.

Cook down.

Add ground turkey.

Add minced garlic.

Mix in and brown turkey.

Sprinkle with parsley.

Add 1, 15 ounce can of tomato sauce.

Mix together, add more salt and pepper.

After 30 minutes, take tomatoes out of the oven to cool.

Discard stems of herbs.

Once cool enough, add to food processor.

Pulse until combined.


Add roasted tomato blend to the sauce pan.

Mix together and let cook on medium low for 30 minutes.

Finely grate 1 1/2 cups of Mozzarella cheese.

Boil box of Rigatoni in water with olive oil and a bit of salt for 12 minutes.

Once pasta is done, drain and add to large baking dish.

Add all of sauce.

Add 1/2 of the finely shredded cheese.

Mix together and flatten with your wooden spoon.

Cover with remaining finely shredded cheese.

Top 1/2 cup of grated Parmesan cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes until everything is melty and delicious.



Dish up.  Add more Parmesan if desired.

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