Sunday evening has come around and after a wonderful weekend which has consisted of a spa day, train travelling, brunching and a few glasses of wine (more about my weekend coming up later!), i realised i needed to also focus on reality.

And reality means having mealboxes for work as well as feeling mentally rested and prepared for a new week. I must say, i feel sort of physically rested but not mentally rested. Also not mentally prepared for next week, haha.

It feels like i am constantly on the go and my mind always racing, and lots of worrying about things at the moment. Which is also causing me alot of physical pain and distress, which then also leads to mental tiredness and anxiety. But i am working on trying to destress and worry less, though it almost feels impossible right now.

Anyway…. with the realization that i needed food prepared for tomorrow i decided to throw together a quick vegetable pasta bake. In the past i have made a pasta bake before, recipe HERE, & also made an amazing broccoli and cauliflower gratin, recipe HERE. 

Though i had no vegan cheese at home and decided to just throw together what i had at home and it turned out very good anyway! Though note, you can add some vegan cheese to this if you have at home. And can make a bread crumb topping like i did in the gratin recipe posted above.

No exact measurement for this recipe – though exact measurements really aren’t needed!

Ingredients:

c.a 200g dry weight – Pasta of choice – i used a mix of whole grain and bean pasta

Vegetables of choice – i used peas, broccoli, sweet corn and spinach. (Other ideas – black beans, tomatoes or sundried tomatoes)

c.a 600ml Tomato sauce (either crushed tomatoes or pureed tomato sauce)

Basil

Garlic

Salt and pepper

Oil

Vegan bacon (or use tofu, or skip this ingredient)

Optional: Vegan cheese and breadcrumbs

How to:

Begin by boiling the pasta c.a 5 minutes. It doesn’t need to be cooked all the way through as it will bake in the oven. If using frozen vegetables, add to the pasta while boiling. Otherwise, fry the vegetables in some oil along with onion, garlic and salt and pepper.

Preheat the oven to 210 degrees celsius.

In a frying pan fry the vegan bacon/tofu until crispy.

Once everything is done. Drain the pasta of water and  mix together with the vegetables and veganbacon/tofu and add basil and garlic as well as extra pepper. If you have at home you can add some vegan cheese to the mix and top the pasta with bread crumbs.

Bake in the oven around 25-35 minutes. If the top is getting too cripsy/burnt, cover with some aluminium foil.

Eat and enjoy warm or cold!