Easy Baked Pasta

Spices for pastaLast week, we talked about simple substitutions that you could make to improve the nutrient profile of a dish without sacrificing texture or flavor. Want to try some of those techniques for yourself? Whip up this simple pasta dish today!

Ingredients:

  • 1 and 1/2 cups cooked white beans (navy, Great Northern, or canellini), rinsed and drained
  • 3/4 cup skim milk
  • 1/4 cup grated reduced-fat Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
  • 1/8 tsp pepper, cayenne, or Tabasco (or to taste)
  • 8 ounces dry pasta, cooked

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350°.
  2. Combine the beans and milk in a blender and puree until smooth.
  3. Stir in the remaining ingredients (except pasta) and microwave until heated through.
  4. Mix sauce with cooked pasta and  pour into a baking dish. Now would be a great time to add any other cooked vegetables that you may want to have in this dish.
  5. Bake pasta for 15 minutes, then serve.

Nutrition Information:

  • Serves 6.
  • Each 3/4 cup serving: 239 calories, 2 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 4 mg cholesterol, 242 mg sodium, 42 g carbohydrate, 12 g protein, 4 g fiber.

Recipe by Cheryl Sullivan, MA, RDLooking for more recipe resources? Check out our recipe archive and our Nutrition Education Store!

Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII

Judy Doherty, MPS, PCII discovered her love of cooking at her grandmother's side, stirring raisin oatmeal on a Saturday morning. By 15 she had her first food service job. At 18 she was accepted to the Culinary Institute of America, where she graduated second in her class, then went on to the Fachschule Richemont in Switzerland to study pastry arts and baking. A decade with Hyatt Hotels followed before she founded Food and Health Communications with a single conviction: food that is good for you should taste extraordinary.

Judy holds a Master of Professional Studies in Food Business from the Culinary Institute of America, a Bachelor of Science in Culinary Arts from Johnson and Wales University (Summa Cum Laude), two art certificates from UC Berkeley Extension, and the CIA's Pro Chef II certification. She has earned the American Culinary Federation Bronze Medal, Gold Medal, and ACF Chef of the Year award.

Today she develops every recipe on this site, shoots and styles food through her food photography and motion studio, and publishes nutrition education materials for dietitians, schools, extension offices, and health professionals through nutritioneducationstore.com. She uses the latest nutritional science and Dietary Guidelines to drive her creativity — whether that means a new twist on fajitas or Italian brownies made with toasted nuts and cooked honey. Her mission has never changed: help everyone make food that tastes as good as it is for them.

https://nutritioneducationstore.com
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