Penne with Tomato Sauce & Roasted Zucchini
Tomato sauce from scratch in ten minutes. Three fresh tomatoes simmered with sautéed onion, paprika, and Italian seasoning while whole wheat penne boils and zucchini chars on a grill pan. The finished plate is layered: pasta on the bottom, slow-simmered sauce in the middle, smoky grilled zucchini fanned across the top, and a cold dollop of cottage cheese right in the center.
637 kcal, 14g of fiber, and every component cooked separately so flavors stay distinct. Fifteen minutes, one person, no leftovers to manage.
Tomato sauce from scratch in ten minutes. Three fresh tomatoes simmered with sautéed onion, paprika, and Italian seasoning while whole wheat penne boils and zucchini chars on a grill pan. The finished plate is layered: pasta on the bottom, slow-simmered sauce in the middle, smoky grilled zucchini fanned across the top, and a cold dollop of cottage cheese right in the center.
637 kcal, 14g of fiber, and every component cooked separately so flavors stay distinct. Fifteen minutes, one person, no leftovers to manage.
Ingredients
- onion 0.5
- tomatoes 3
- olive oil 1.5 tablespoon
- paprika (ground spice) 1 teaspoon
- Italian seasoning 1 teaspoon
- penne, whole wheat 3 ounces
- zucchini 1
- cottage cheese, 4% milkfat 2 ounces
Method
-
Chop the onion and dice the tomatoes.
-
Heat half of the oil in a pan and gently sauté the onion until translucent. Stir in the tomatoes, paprika, Italian seasoning, some salt and freshly ground pepper. Let everything simmer gently for 10 minutes until it becomes a tasty sauce, adding a dash of water if necessary.
-
Cook the penne in a pot of boiling water according to the instructions on the package.
-
Meanwhile, slice the zucchini diagonally, brush lightly with oil and grill them in a hot grill pan for 4-6 minutes until nicely browned and cooked, turning them after 2-3 minutes.
-
Drain the pasta in a colander and transfer to a deep plate. Top with the tomato sauce and place the grilled zucchini slices on top. Place the cottage cheese in the center.
Slice the zucchini on the diagonal, about a centimeter thick. Thinner slices go limp on the grill pan. Thicker ones stay raw in the center. The diagonal cut gives you more surface contact with the ridges, which is where the char marks and smoky flavor come from.
Behind this recipe
Can I use regular penne instead of whole wheat?
Yes. Regular penne cooks the same way and the recipe works identically. The difference is in the macros: whole wheat penne delivers 14g of fiber per serving here, most of which comes from the grain. Swapping to regular penne drops that number significantly while keeping calories, protein, and fat roughly the same.
Why cook the zucchini separately on a grill pan instead of adding it to the sauce?
Zucchini is mostly water. Dropping it into the sauce releases that moisture and dilutes the tomato flavor you spent ten minutes building. Grilling it separately on high heat does the opposite: it drives water out fast, concentrates the flesh, and adds char marks that give the dish a smoky layer the sauce alone cannot produce. Two separate pans, two distinct textures on the same plate.
Is 24g of protein enough for a dinner meal?
Research on per-meal protein utilization suggests the body can use at least 20-25g per meal for muscle-related processes. This meal sits right in that range. If your daily target is higher and you want more from this sitting, adding a larger portion of cottage cheese or a side of Greek yogurt is the simplest path without changing the recipe's cooking method.
Read the full evidence review
