Tomato Mozzarella Pasta Bake

It seems like lately we have been stuck in a rut for our main dishes. Pretty much every morning we have a green smoothie and some toast for breakfast and one of our other meals we try to have a salad. That means that either for lunch or dinner we have some type of main dish. I can tell when we get stuck in a rut because we are less likely to make this main dish and instead use whatever convenient excuse we have to go out or to make something off the menu. We can't have any more of that, can we?

For this two week menu I added about 6 new dishes and this pasta dish is one of those recipes. It was very easy to put together after a long day at work. I chose to use fresh tomatoes instead of canned and it really didn't take much longer to get them chopped up. The garlic smelled heavenly while it was cooking up, and even two days later while eating leftovers at work someone commented on how good it smelled. This dish seemed a lot like a meatless lasagna and it will definitely be a keeper. Enjoy!

Tomato Mozzarella Pasta Bake
Source: Adapted from Annies Eats

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
14 ounces fresh roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
salt
pepper
1 lb penne pasta
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, cubed or shredded
2/3 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 baking dish.

Heat oil in skillet. Add garlic and cook over medium high heat for 1 minute. Add tomatoes and oregano and simmer rapidly, stirring occasionally until thickened, about 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions. Toss pasta with sauce.

Place half of pasta in baking dish. Cover with half of the parmesan and half of the mozzarella. Top with the remaining pasta, then the remaining parmesan and mozzarella. Bake for 15 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.