Substituting vegetables for pasta or adding vegetables to a dish is achieved with Pasta Zoodle Bake, a delicious main or side dish. It’s quick to come together, especially if you prepare your zoodles ahead of time. Zoodles stay fresh in a sealed container for several days! Assemble this casserole on a whim and supper comes together in no time.
Improvise on your Pasta Zoodle Bake
This recipe is soooo forgiving! You can double it (and put it in two pans or in a deep 9×13 pan). You can increase or decrease almost any of the ingredients depending on how much you have available as well as to adjust to your own taste. Like it saucier? Use more pasta sauce! Want more veggies? Put in another zucchini or two!
Have you Zoodled yet?
Yes, it’s an activity. And the new nouns are: zoodles, squoodles, coodles, swoodles. (Translation: zucchini noodles, squash noodles, carrot noodles, sweet potato noodles)
Zoodles and squoodles are a great substitute for pasta in recipes with tomato sauce flavors. Adding them into a recipe with pasta, as in Pasta Zoodle Bake, gives the casserole more flavor, texture, and nutrition. Swoodles have some really fun applications in both casseroles and in roasting the spiral sweet potatoes. While coodles work best with the fattest of carrots, they produce a fun twist for salads or Asian stir fry.
Zoodling Benefits
- visually appealing, particularly to children
- reduced moisture, for ease in using in recipes without them becoming watery
- texture that truly mimics pasta
I first zoodled for a client of mine, and I loved her spiralizer so much I bought one of my own. It’s this Brieftons one.
My sister and I had a little amazed fun over a year ago, so I’ll share this silly video of me:
Pasta Zoodle Bake
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb. penne, ziti, or spiral pasta
- 3/4 c cooked chicken or Italian sausage optional
- 1 zucchini
- 1/2 t garlic powder or freeze dried garlic bits
- 1 1/2 t Italian seasoning
- 1 t salt
- 1 jar spaghetti sauce
- 1/4 c Parmesan cheese
- 1 c mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Wash and spiralize zucchini, then sprinkle with seasonings. Combine with cooked meat of your choice, or none if you prefer a meatless dish.
- Get the pasta boiling and spray an 8" casserole dish with nonstick spray. Place the zucchini/spice/meat mixture into the dish, then pour half of the spaghetti sauce on top. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, then add the cooked pasta on top of that. Pour the remaining sauce and then mozzarella on top.
- Cover with foil. Bake in 350° oven for 30 minutes, until bubbly.
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