Creamy Caprese Quinoa Bake

If you heard a huge sigh of relief over the weekend, it probably came from Chris as I made my way back into the kitchen and gave him a break from dinner duty! It's been quite some time since I cooked dinner...like "can't remember where some items are stored" amount of time. But...I survived and (thanks to Pinterest) I think I made a tasty and very easy little quinoa dish! Enjoy!

Creamy Caprese Quinoa Bake

Ingredients

2 cups of cooked quinoa 

1 cup of your favorite pasta sauce

2 tablespoons of tomato past

1/3 cup of heavy cream

1/3 cup of Parmesan cheese

1 cup of mozzarella cheese (divided)

1 cup grape tomatoes (halved)

1 large bunch of fresh basil (loosely chopped)

1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper

salt/pepper to taste

Directions

First, cook your quinoa. I tossed in 1/2 cup of uncooked quinoa with about a cup of water to yield (close enough) to my 2 cups of cooked quinoa. This took roughly 10-15 minutes. Once done, preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Now, let the fun begin! Heat your pasta sauce and tomato paste over low heat in a large sauce pan.

Once warm, stir in your heavy cream, Parmesan cheese, crushed red pepper and season with salt/pepper.

Remove from heat and stir in your cooked quinoa.

Next, fold in half of your mozzarella cheese, half of your tomatoes, and your chopped basil.

Once combined, spray a baking dish and pour in your entire quinoa mixture. Note: I used a 2 quart dish and I wished I would have used an 8x8 or other size square! Top with the remainder of your mozzarella cheese and remainder of your tomatoes.

Bake for 10-15 minutes and then turn on your broiler for about 1-2 minutes or until the cheese is golden and 

bubbly! Remove from the oven and sprinkle with a bit more of your chopped basil.

Allow to cool and then serve! 

This was seriously delicious! Lily (and even GranZee) enjoyed it...but that might have been thanks to the crazy amount of cheese in this dish! Whatever works!