Its a cold and dreary January day here in Calgary. This is the perfect day for a comforting, warm, healthy and delicious pasta bake. It's this kind of recipe I go-to this time of year. This is our first year with a gluten intolerance in the family so I haven't been making as many pasta dishes lately. But the kids have been begging for pasta so I thought I better get to it. And I have to say, this recipe doesn't disappoint. The kids LOVED it!

Healthy Additions

You'll notice I used cooked white beans in the recipe. I usually cook a big batch of beans on the stove and then break them up into individual portions and freeze them so they're ready for recipes like this. Pre-making the beans allows me to add the benefit of fibre and lots of other goodies while decreasing the "day of" cooking time. But if life gets in the way (as it often does), feel free to use canned white beans instead of making your own!

I like to add beans whenever I can, but I know not every allergy family can eat legumes. If this is the case for you, feel free to substitute the beans with pureed cauliflower to add that healthful punch us moms are looking for (or omit all together). You'll also find other allergy-friendly options in brackets beside recipe ingredients.

Another healthy addition is spinach which is always a good idea, in my opinion (if you don't have an allergy of course)!