Italian Sun Dried Tomato Pasta Bake
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Italian Sun Dried Tomato Pasta Bake is loaded with ooey gooey cheese, sun-dried and fresh grape tomatoes. Ready in just 30 minutes!
With Christmas quickly approaching, time is a very precious commodity. Whether you are preparing a meal for your family or a dinner party for friends, you can put a gourmet meal on the table in only 30 minutes.
Table of Contents
Tomato Pasta Bake
This baked sun dried tomato pasta has everything your dinner guests could possibly desire! Tender rigatoni baked in a flavorful Italian cheese sauce with sundried and juicy grape tomatoes.
It’s an easy 30 Minute Italian dinner recipe, and your family will absolutely love it. A quick Italian comfort food is ready and waiting for you to make it, and devour it! We also have cheesy sun dried tomato meatball poppers that you will LOVE! I also made an amazing yellow grape tomato sauce that I think you will love! Or how about this “all day” tomato sauce in 20 minutes, all the flavor and ready in a flash!
Enjoy!
With love, from our simple kitchen to yours.
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30 Minute Sun Dried Tomato Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 3 cup milk, whole or 2%
- kosher salt, for seasoning water
- 1 pound rigatoni pasta
- 5 ounces shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
- 8 ounces shredded Italian cheese blend
- 6 ounces grape tomatoes, approximately 1 cup
- 8.5 ounce jar sun-dried tomatoes julienne cut in olive oil, drained
- 1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
- 4 basil leaves, julienned
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Fill a large 8 quart sauce pan with water, cover and bring to a boil.
- Meanwhile, in a medium sauce pan (about 4 quarts) over medium heat, melt 4 Tbsp butter, add flour, Italian seasoning, garlic powder and nutmeg. Whisk for 2 to 3 minutes to cook out the “flour-y” taste. Add milk, whisk to combine. Allow to cook until pasta water comes to a boil.
- Add a handful of salt to boiling pasta water. Cook pasta to al dente; meaning it still has a little bite to it (approximately 7 minutes). Al dente pasta absorbs sauce better while it cooks and this is going into the oven.
- Add Parmesan cheese to sauce and stir. Sprinkle in Italian cheese blend, stirring until the cheese sauce is smooth. Reduce heat to simmer.
- Meanwhile slice grape tomatoes in half lengthwise. Drain sun-dried tomatoes. In a microwave safe bowl, add butter and microwave until melted. Add bread crumbs and combine with a fork until butter is absorbed into bread crumbs. Add ½ cup Parmesan cheese and stir with fork until combined. Set aside.
- Once pasta is drained and returned to the hot pan, add sun-dried tomatoes and grape tomatoes (reserving 10 or so for garnish). Stir. Pour in cheese sauce, reserving about 1 cup. Stir until combined.
- Pour pasta into a baking dish and smooth out with spoon. Pour remaining cheese sauce evenly over top. Sprinkle with bread crumb topping. Garnish with reserved tomatoes. Place baking dish on a cookie sheet and bake for 5-7 minutes until topping is golden brown. Serve and enjoy!
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.
Originally published December 2012.
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Weโre Donna and Chad, the dream team behind The Slow Roasted Italian. Our focus is on taking complicated OUT of the kitchen. Life is busy enough, making meals should be fast and easy, to help make your life as simple as possible. Read More >>
they are all hearty and look delicious but I think my favorite is definitely the sun dried tomato!
Italian foods are always great to try as they will never disappoint our taste buds. This recipe looks Yummy ๐ Will forward this to my wife and hope she makes it for me soon.
I totally agree with you as Italian foods are always great to try as they will never disappoint our taste buds.
Haha I always pick a recipe with sun dried tomatoes and this is by far my favorite recipe from you! It is so delicious!