Meatless Monday is now the best night of the week! Easy Cheesy Vegetarian Pasta Skillet has it all — artichokes, mushrooms, sweet bell pepper, onion, and spinach, all nestled together in a beautifully cheesy pan full of pasta.
Oh, we are so back to comfort food this week. When the news gets you down, when the kids are driving you nuts, when the weather is gray… nothing hits the spot like this Easy Cheesy Vegetarian Pasta Skillet.
Chock full of spinach, mushrooms, sweet bell pepper, and artichokes, this skillet of deliciousness sneaks a lot of veggies in there (among all the cheese…).
If you’re thinking that this recipe reminds you a little of something, a couple of weeks ago we made a deliciously easy & cheesy pasta skillet featuring ground beef. Given this week’s meat shortages, though, I thought it might now be interesting to create a vegetarian version.
Honestly? I think this week’s veggie pasta skillet turned out even better than the original! My carnivorous kids may disagree, but that’s the beautiful versatility of a dish like this; it’s good to have choices. If you try them both, let me know what you think..
Looking for more vegetarian recipe ideas? Take a few minutes to browse through the Meatless Monday category for additional dinner options — or, check out fifteen favorite meatless meals to jump start your vegetarian cooking.
Easy Cheesy Vegetarian Pasta Skillet
Ingredients
1 Tbsp olive oil
8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 sweet bell pepper, diced
1/2 of a medium yellow onion, diced
1 Tbsp minced garlic (about 6 cloves)
12 oz box of farfalle (bowtie pasta)
8 oz fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 of a 12 oz jar of marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
24 oz jar marinara
8 oz ricotta
4 oz shredded mozzarella
Instructions
Start salted water boiling for the pasta. Cut up your onion, mushrooms, bell pepper, and garlic.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and pepper and saute for two minutes, then stir in the mushrooms and continue to saute over medium heat for another eight minutes, or until mushrooms are browned and softened.
While the mushrooms are cooking, shred your mozzarella (if not using pre-shredded), chop the spinach and the artichokes, and cook pasta al dente according to package directions.
Drain the pasta when it has finished cooking, then return to its pot.
Once the mushrooms are browned, stir the spinach, garlic, and seasonings into the skillet until the spinach is just wilted.
Once the spinach has wilted, reduce the heat to medium low under the skillet. Stir in the artichokes, then stir in the pasta sauce and ricotta until the ricotta is melted and incorporated into the sauce.
Stir the cooked pasta into the veggies and sauce until nicely combined, then spread it out evenly in the pan. Top everything with shredded mozzarella.
Cover the skillet. Continue to cook over medium-low heat for another five minutes to melt the mozzarella, then serve.
Note: I again used ALDI’s Reggano simply marinara sauce here, because it’s flavorful, affordable, and contains no added sugars. Even with prepared sauce, though, I always like to punch things up a little with extra garlic and oregano.
Tastes like vegetarian lasagna!
The sweetness of the bell pepper, the umami meatiness of the mushrooms, the tanginess of the artichokes — everything works together here to punch up the lasagna-ish flavor of this vegetarian pasta recipe. Sooo good.
Vegetarian pasta skillet also reheats nicely. I’ve been eating it for lunch all week, making me a very happy camper indeed. (Try yours with garlic bread, for the ultimate comfort food meal!)
Easy Cheesy Vegetarian Pasta Skillet, printable recipe
Easy Cheesy Vegetarian Pasta Skillet
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 8 oz fresh mushrooms sliced
- 1 sweet bell pepper diced
- 1/2 of a medium yellow onion diced
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic about 6 cloves
- 12 oz box of farfalle bowtie pasta
- 8 oz fresh spinach roughly chopped
- 1/2 of a 12 oz jar of marinated artichoke hearts chopped
- 2 tsp oregano
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
- 24 oz jar marinara
- 8 oz ricotta
- 4 oz shredded mozzarella
Instructions
- Start salted water boiling for the pasta. Cut up your onion, mushrooms, bell pepper, and garlic.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and pepper and saute for two minutes, then stir in the mushrooms and continue to saute over medium heat for another eight minutes, or until mushrooms are browned and softened.
- While the mushrooms are cooking, shred your mozzarella (if not using pre-shredded), chop the spinach and the artichokes, and cook pasta al dente according to package directions.
- Drain the pasta when it has finished cooking, then return to its pot.
- Once the mushrooms are browned, stir the spinach, garlic, and seasonings into the skillet until the spinach is just wilted.
- Once the spinach has wilted, reduce the heat to medium low under the skillet. Stir in the artichokes, then stir in the pasta sauce and ricotta until the ricotta is melted and incorporated into the sauce.
- Stir the cooked pasta into the veggies and sauce until nicely combined, then spread it out evenly in the pan. Top everything with shredded mozzarella.
- Cover the skillet. Continue to cook over medium-low heat for another five minutes to melt the mozzarella, then serve.
Notes
Recipes in the real world
Be sure not to miss the free ALDI meal plans, which show you how to use these easy family recipes to meal plan affordably and realistically for your family. Or, find more recipe ideas with the Recipe Search!
Be sure not to miss the free ALDI meal plans, which show you how to use these easy family recipes to meal plan affordably and realistically for your family. Or, find more recipe ideas with the Recipe Search!
Sasha .
Saturday 16th of May 2020
Super good. I ended up substituting zucchini for the pasta just bc I had someone that couldn't eat the grains. It was still amazing. Everyone loved it. Thank you for the recipe.