What's on Your Plate? Day #18 Baked Marinara Mac & Cheese and Cheesy Garlic toasts

I make pasta pretty often considering 3 out of the 4 of us love it. Its a no fuss dinner and pair it with Garlic toasts and all of a sudden my kids crown me the best mom in the whole wide world!! :D I mostly use home-made Basil Walnut Pesto but we are still waiting on our Basil plants to grow so I made a Marinara cream sauce and also snuck in a few veggies so its not all cheese in there. If your kids are picky about that you can make an only cheese version. This is also a good variation from the usual Mac. 

Baked Marinara Mac & Cheese:  

You will need:

2 cups elbow pasta
2 quarts water
2 tbsp Oil
3 pods Garlic, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped Onion
1/4 cup chopped Bell pepper
1/2 cup Tomato- Basil Marinara sauce (from a jar)
1/4 cup Heavy cream
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp Black pepper powder
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar
1/4 cup shredded Mozzarella plus 1/4 cup
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp grated Parmesan
1/4 cup plain bread crumbs

Bring the water to a rolling boil. Generously salt that water and drop in the pasta Stir and cook for 10 minutes. Reserve 1 cup water and drain the remaining. Set aside the pasta.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Heat oil in a pan. When its hot, add the chopped garlic and bell pepper. Sauté until the bell peppers are almost done and then add the chopped onions. Sauté until onions are soft. Stir in the marinara and bring to a simmering boil. Season with salt to taste and pepper powder.Add the cream and the reserved water. Combine and add the drained pasta. Add more marinara if needed. Stir in the grated cheeses and give a quick toss. 

Lightly butter an oven safe baking dish. Melt the butter in a small bowl. Add the  parmesan and bread crumbs and stir to combine. Transfer prepared pasta into prepared baking dish. Top with the bread crumb mixture. Lastly top with the remaining 1/4 cup of Mozzarella. Bake for 12 minutes until the top is lightly crisp and browned. Serve warm.

Cheesy Garlic Toasts:

For this you can use a French Baguette or regular slices of bread. I had plain white bread and used that. 

You will need:
6 slices white bread
1 tbsp Mayonnaise
2 tbsp unsalted Butter, softened
2 pods Garlic, minced
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Red chilli flakes
1/4 tsp dried Oregano
1/3 cup grated Mozzarella

Preheat oven to 425F.

In a small bowl combine the mayonnaise, softened butter, minced garlic and salt. Spread evenly on each slice. Top with Mozzarella and a pinch of oregano and chili flakes. 

Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 6-8 minutes until the top is nice and bubbly and the bread is crisp. Cut into triangles and serve. 

The toasts were gone in minutes and so was the Pasta! :)