Baked Zucchini Penne Recipe: Market Street and Cans Get You Cooking

This Cans Get You Cooking recipe has been compensated by Market Street, but the recipe and opinions are my own.

I keep my pantry pretty full, I think it’s the expectation that there may be a time where I just can’t get out to the store to shop.  Whether that be because of weather, illness, lack of money, or yes even the chance of a zombie apocalypse <– you know because if you watch The Walking Dead you’ll notice that it’s the CANNED FOODS that get pillaged from the cupboards.  I’m hedging my bets with the cans folks.

Besides all that future paranoia, I actually enjoy cooking with canned food.  With canned food everything is in season all year long, plus cooking with cans is convenient, there’s no need to defrost anything or peel and chop.  The nutrition is all there and so is the value.

Market Street has a huge variety of canned foods to choose from for all of your meal needs.  Since February is National Canned Food Month, when I was shopping at Market Street last week I picked up a few cans to use in this recipe for Baked Zucchini Penne.  It’s so easy to make and if you want to make it even healthier, substitute the penne noodles for whole wheat ones and leave off the cheese (or use less), it will still be really tasty.

Baked Zucchini Penne

Ingredients
8 oz of Penne noodles, uncooked
2 cans (14.5 oz each) DelMonte Zucchini with Italian Style Tomato Sauce
1 can (14.5 oz) Diced Basil, Garlic & Oregano Tomatoes
2 cups of shredded Italian Blend Cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook noodles according to package instructions, drain and transfer to a large mixing bowl.

Add the zucchini and tomatoes with their sauce and juices.  Mix them in until all the noodles are covered in sauce.

Transfer noodle mixture to a 9×13″ baking dish.  Cover the top with the shredded cheese.

Bake uncovered for 30 minutes.

I told you it was easy!

If you like you can also layer the cheese with the noodles.  So put half the noodles in the dish and then top with one cup of cheese, then layer the additional noodles finishing with another cup of cheese.  That will just give it cheesiness throughout instead of just as a top “crust.”

Another thing I like about canned food…it’s easy for me to grab a few cans here or there when I’m doing my regular shopping at Market Street and bring them to a food bank as donations.  Canned food is inexpensive and to add a few extra dollars to my cart isn’t that noticeable to my end bill, but it can mean the difference for a family that’s struggling to have some nutritious vegetables on their dinner table or some fruit on hand for breakfast.

Why not try some of Market Street’s Favorite Canned Food Recipes!  You can find them on their website.

What are some ways Cans Get YOU Cooking?