For those with small kitchens, these drop biscuits with Crisco are excellent. So easy, yet so delicious!
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 50 mins |
| Additional Time: | 5 mins |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 10 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- 8 ounces penne pasta
- ¼ cup Parmesan cheese
- ½ cup crushed saltine crackers
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ onion, chopped
- 2 cups chopped zucchini
- 1 tomato, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
- 1 pinch dried celery flakes
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add penne pasta, cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until al dente, and drain. Lightly grease a medium casserole dish.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a blender or food processor, thoroughly mix Parmesan cheese and crackers.
- Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place onion in the skillet, and cook and stir until tender. Mix in zucchini, tomato, and garlic, and season with oregano, basil, celery, salt, and pepper. Continue to cook and stir until zucchini is tender.
- In the prepared casserole dish, mix pasta with vegetable mixture and mozzarella cheese. Top evenly with Parmesan cheese mixture.
- Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the topping is lightly browned. Allow it to stand 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 271 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 37 g |
| Cholesterol | 15 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 3 g |
| Protein | 13 g |
| Saturated Fat | 3 g |
| Sodium | 336 mg |
| Sugars | 2 g |
| Fat | 8 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
I always read several reviews before I try a new recipe. I’m also usually glad I did. I was looking for a pasta dish that wasn’t tomato based as I was serving gazpacho for an appetizer. This one is pretty light on tomatoes, so I decided to give it a try… with more revisions that I usually make the first time through. I’ve made enough pasta casserole dishes to know that 8oz of pasta for 2 cups of zucchini without much else for moisture was going to be DRY, so I used barely 6oz of pasta. I also had an abundance of eggplant, so I added an equal amount of cubed eggplant with the zucchini, as well as some chopped green pepper from the garden. Rather than chopping a tomato I used a bunch of halved grape tomatoes. Before I added the pasta to the veggie mixture, it still looked like it needed to be somewhat saucier, so I stirred in about 4oz of light cream cheese. My husband wanted to put some other protein in as it was served as an entree, so I stirred in some cubed rotisserie chicken right before I poured it into a greased 9X13 baking dish.Chose panko bread crumbs with the parmesan for the topping. It was outstanding. My guests, who are not usually big eaters had seconds. And the leftovers tasted even better.
Excellent recipe. We have a ton of zucchini from the backyard garden this year, and I got tired of making chocolate chip zucchini bread. The zucchini pasta bake was very tasty. The fact that my 15 year-old granddaughter and her best friend (also 15), both of whom are notoriously picky eaters, loved this dish is really saying something. Next time I might make it with some riccotta cheese to give it more of baked ziti texture–but it really is quite good as is.
Loved it. Might double it next time.
Family really liked this. I doubled the recipe all the way around to make sure there were left overs or work the next day. I’ll make this again with all the zucchini we will be getting this season.
This was a great recipe. The only changes I made were to add 1/2 cup water when cooking the zucchini and then used 1 can petite diced tomatoes, without draining, instead of fresh tomatoes. It was really good. Next time I might use tomato sauce instead of the water.
This was an easy and fun dish to make. I added a couple of small things like a bit of chicken and switched the crackers for bread crumbs. The family thoroughly enjoyed it! Thanks
I sautéed fresh mushrooms and added them. This recipe has a wonderful flavor. I rated 4 stars because it is a little dry, but still delicious.
Made this dish for tonight’s dinner. I added one pound of ground sirloin for the protein. Tasted good, but was on the dry side. It needed some kind of sauce. Next time I’ll add Alfredo sauce and mushrooms.
Nice summer taste. This freezes well.
Delicious. Put some butter on top of it when you bake it.
Very good. Would do again. Everyone liked. Could have used more veggies and I would when I do it again. It was a little dry. Maybe add more tomatoes or canned tomatoes .
This was delicious and I will make it again. I didn’t have the crackers so I used bread crumbs with the Parmesan cheese on top. I add more vegetables (2 zucchini & 2 yellow squash)when making this in the future. I add a can of diced tomatoes to prevent it from drying out.
Delish! I added diced chicken breast and used gluten free noodles, leaving out the crackers as well. So good!
This is delicious! I was craving Mac and Cheese but didn’t want some heavy, guilt-ridden recipe… “Adult Mac and Cheese”, my husband called it, and my kid thought it was great, too! I used half zucchini and half yellow squash, it looked more colorful that way. Next time, I might try it with a can of those fire roasted tomatoes instead of regular… I love that flavor.
I messed up and forgot to add the pepper (both black and red). I’m guessing this is NECESSARY. Otherwise, there is no flavor.
This is excellent. I made just a minor change. I doubled the recipe because I have a big family and I added a can of cream of celery soup and a can of cream of chicken soup and one can of milk. This gave it a creaminess and prevented any dryness. Other than that I followed everything else in the original recipe. I make this every year with my garden zucchini and tomatoes. My family loves it!
Too dry! Needs more sauce, but it was good.
Made this as the recipe is written and thought it was lacking flavor and it was a bit on the dry side. Wont be making it again.
Very tasty. I thought I needed to add some spaghetti sauce, but it was unneeded, lots of flavor.
My husband really liked this recipe, I liked it also, but I thought it was a little dry. I did replace the tomatoes with the petite diced tomatoes (with juices) like others suggested. I also doubled up on the garlic and added one small diced yellow squash. I will make this recipe again, but I think I will add more liquid to the recipe and leave out the crackers.
Love this recipe and have made many times!