Cooking - Baked Summer Veg Pasta

My father-in-law has a remarkable garden. It is probably a quarter acre large and the veggies it produces are world class. There are so many that by the end of the summer our freezer is full and we enjoy the veg the whole year round.

For the first real meal using the garden veg, I had some garden grown red onions, a large zucchini, and some roma beans. I diced an onion and sweated it in some EV olive oil with a little salt. Added a couple cloves of garlic smashed and chopped. I cut the zucchini about the size of my penne and added them to the pan.

I sauteed it on medium until the squash started getting soft. About 8 minutes. Then added the cleaned and prepped beans and some cremeni mushrooms. A little more salt and some fresh pepper. Then a pinch of red pepper flakes and a heavy pinch of dried oregano and dried basil. After about 3-5 more minutes, I added a can of whole San Marzano tomatoes and a couple tbls. of balsamic vinegar. Bring to a simmer and cover for about 15-20 minutes.

Now I par baked some penne, drained, and laid out in a large casserole dish. Poured the veggie/sauce mixture over and combined. Then I placed dollops of riccotta cheese and fresh mozzerella in and around the casserole and baked uncovered for about 30 minutes at 350 until the cheese is bubbly and the whole thing is scalding hot.

Serve w a little parm cheese and some fresh garlic bread. It turned out great. So great in fact that we had the leftovers the next night, albeit it with a piece of swordfish on top (the fish was baked at 400 with olive oil, salt, and pepper surrounded by some garden onion, mushrooms, and garden carrots...finish under the broiler for 3-5 minutes).