Baked Pasta with Sweet Potato Sauce

Baked Pasta with Sweet Potato Sauce

Ingredients:

• 8 oz whole wheat Penne or medium shells

• 2 medium garnet sweet potato

• 1 large garlic clove

• 2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

• 2 tsp chopped fresh thyme

• 2/3 cup grated Parmesan

• 1 cup shredded mozzarella

• 2/3 cup shredded Gruyere

• 1 tsp salt + more for pasta water

• 1/4 tsp black pepper

• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

• 1/4 cup whole milk

• 1 cup potato water (the water that the sweet potato was cooked in)

• 1 cup cooked peas or other vegetable, optional

1. In a large pot filled to 2/3's with water, heat to boil. Peel and chop sweet potato. Place in boiling water and cook until fork tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Use a large slotted spoon to remove cooked potatoes from water (you'll be using the same water to cook the pasta). Place potatoes in a blender, add 1/2 cup of the potato water and puree potatoes. Add salt, black pepper, garlic, milk and more of the potato water if sauce is too thick. Blend; set aside.

2. Combine all the cheeses and set aside. Grease a shallow 2 quart baking dish.

3. Heat the pot of water to boiling, add more water if needed and salt the water. Cook pasta for 5 minutes; pasta will finish cooking when baked, drain and put back into the pot. Add red pepper flakes and most of the herbs, leaving some for garnish, to the pasta and stir to combine.

4. Stir in cooked vegetables, if using. Add 2 to 2 1/2 cups of the sweet potato sauce to the pasta and incorporate.

5. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cheese and stir the rest into the pasta. Place pasta in greased baking dish and cook in a 500°F heated oven for 15 minutes, until bubbly and brown. Add the reserved cheese and cook for an additional 3 to 5 minutes, until cheese has melted. Allow to cool for 5 minutes, garnish with additional herbs and serve.

Serves: 4 to 6

Notes&Tips:

• This is an amazingly delicious pasta dish that you will want to try if you're a pasta lover, or not! If you're tired of tomato-based sauces or want to eat a lighter pasta dish that is still creamy and not fattening, this is the dish you'd want to put on your dinner table.

• Additionally, you can add cooked vegetables like peas, spinach, kale, mushroom, etc. and for lean protein chicken breast or turkey sausage.

• If you'd like a "white-based" sauce for this dish, use Jersey sweet potatoes. Jersey sweet potatoes are creamy-white in color and just as delicious as garnet sweet potatoes.

• My family enjoyed this dish so much that I made it twice in one week - once with vegetables and once without.