Italian Baked Pasta

All pasta lovers out there, you will want to take a look at this mouthwatering recipe.This Italian baked pasta we are making will deal with all your pasta cravings. And we've included everything we need to make this a whole rounded meal. 

A good pasta dish is a must in every recipe book. For me there are a few things a pasta recipe needs in order to be considered good. First of all, it needs to be incredibly delicious of course. It has to be easy to make, who wants to spend long hours making pasta? And, finally it needs to be made with ingredients that will actually nourish your body and not just be plain pasta with tomato sauce.

This Italian baked pasta ticks all the boxes and has been my go to pasta dish for quite a while now. It is very easy to make and I usually have most of the ingredients at home. It has come to the rescue many times when I have no idea what to cook for dinner. 

I usually have frozen spinach for meals like this one. It makes it very easy to add those very much needed leafy greens to my families diet. I don't have picky eaters at home but I do sometimes have to sneak in some veggies wherever I possible can. This way we all get our daily intake and I avoid any complaints.

A good pasta dish needs a good sauce, so we have one that is super creamy and flavourful. You only need to throw all the ingredients in the blender until you get the right consistency. It needs to be slightly thick so it covers the fusilli pasta really well. We want that flavour in absolutely every bite. 

Another great reason for having this Italian baked pasta dish handy is that it has a bunch of nutrients and a pretty good amount of protein. One of the biggest concerns I hear people have when transitioning to a vegan diet is their protein intake. 

There are a lot of plant-based protein sources out there that we shouldn't feel we are missing out. And there are so many ways we can incorporate those elements into our diet. We just need to know where to look at.

If you are interested in learning more about this topic we put together this great article that addresses all these concerns. We included all you need to know about protein, from how the body uses it to how much you really need. We've also added a list of a bunch of plant-based protein sources and some meal plan examples. 

Our Italian baked pasta has about 28g of protein. This is pretty good considering you will get less than 544 calories per serving. It is very filling but you won't feel groggy or heavy since the sauce is light and the veggies are easy to digest. 

I might be biased but this could easily be the best pasta dish ever!