Penne Pasta with Two Sauces

Are you looking for a dinner recipe the whole family will enjoy?  This pasta dish is a crowd pleaser!  Just look at the bubbly cheese in the photo above and you might start to understand why it's a hit.  It's nothing too fancy, but this recipe produces a creamy, fresh tasting pasta that will have everyone asking for seconds.  Unless you have a family of ten, you'll have plenty of leftovers for the next night too.  


Penne Pasta with Two Sauces
(Printable Recipe)
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
3 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cans (14.5 oz.) fire roasted diced tomatoes with garlic
2 cans  (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano
½ cups fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
1 pound penne pasta
4 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup flour
2 cups whole milk
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 pinch nutmeg
1 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese


Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, pulse the 2 cans of Fire Roasted tomatoes into a crushed tomato sauce. Set aside.  Saute garlic in olive oil on medium heat in a medium sized sauce pan.  Add the crushed and diced tomatoes. Add freshly ground pepper to taste then simmer 5 minutes.  Remove from stove and stir in the fresh basil leaves.  

Prepare a large pan of water to cook pasta.  Boil the water and cook the pasta two minutes less than the package directions.

While pasta cooks, melt butter in a small pan over medium heat. Whisk in flour, cooking until bubbly.  Add milk,  whisking until thickened to create a bechamel sauce. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg to the bechamel sauce. Whisk until bechamel sauce thickens. Take sauce off the heat and whisk in Parmesan cheese until creamy and blended.

Drain pasta and pour half of the tomato sauce and pasta back into the pot stirring to coat the penne. Spray a 13 x 9 casserole dish with non-stick spray.   Pour the penne with tomato sauce into the pan.  Ladle the remaining tomato sauce evenly across the top of the pasta.  Pour the bechamel sauce evenly over the top of the pasta.  Sprinkle the  mozzarella cheese evenly across the top of the bechamel sauce.   Bake the casserole for 8 minutes.  Increase the heat to broil and melt the mozzarella cheese until brown and bubbly, about 3 minutes. Serves 8-10.