Easy Baked Zucchini Pasta (Creamy, High-Fiber and Butter free)

As October settles in and the temperatures drop, the mornings become crisp, the evenings draw in earlier and autumn shyly peeks around the corner. With it comes the inevitable return to daily routines after weeks of summer spontaneity.

In our kitchen, this transitional season always calls for one thing: warming comfort food after long and busy days while at the same time fueling us. In these moments, my immediate source of inspiration is right outside in my abundant garden, still overflowing with late summer zucchini. This crispy, high-fiber baked pasta is our weeknight lifesaver. Instead of relying on butter and heavy cream, it offers its creaminess and richness by using a velvety white bean sauce topped with golden spelt crunch. 

Why you’ll love this recipe:

• High-fiber spelt pasta: Provides sustained, slow-burning energy.
• ​Smart swaps: A velvety white bean and cashew base replaces heavy cream and butter without sacrificing richness.
• ​Plant diversity: Packed with a diverse mix of plants (zucchini, leek, spinach, seeds, and legumes) to support gut health.

Key ingredients and swaps:

• Spelt Pasta: Provides a hearty, nutty flavor. You can easily substitute regular wholewheat pasta, or use lentil pasta for an extra hit of plant protein.
• ​White Beans & Cashews: Blended together, they create an ultra-smooth base without the need for a traditional butter-and-flour roux.
• ​Alpine Cheese: A handful of Gruyère or Raclette adds authentic, savory richness. For a strictly dairy-free bake, simply omit the cheese or add an extra tablespoon of nutritional yeast for savoury depth.
• ​Spinach: Easily swapped for finely chopped Tuscan kale, Swiss chard, or even a few handfuls of rocket.

Easy Baked Zucchini Pasta (Creamy, High-Fiber and Butter free)

Recipe by Monika Gemmet

0.0 from 0 votes

Course: DinnerDifficulty: Easy

Servings

6

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

40

minutes

A cozy, golden whole-spelt pasta bake tossed with tender sautéed leeks and shredded zucchini in a velvety white bean sauce. Finished with a crisp, toasted seed and breadcrumb topping, this is an Alpine-inspired weeknight gratin for a gut-healthy, high-fiber weeknight comfort meal.

Ingredients

• 320g spelt or wholewheat pasta
  2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
  1 leek, diced
  2 cloves of garlic, minced
  400g turkey mince
  400g zucchini, grated, the excess liquid removed
  200g baby spinach (or 4 portions frozen spinach)
  ½ teaspoon ground coriander
  ¼ teaspoon chili powder (up to ½ teaspoon)
  1 teaspoon salt
  1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

• For the sauce:

• 250g cooked cannellini beans (equals one 400g can)
  80g cashews, soaked in hot water for at least 20 minutes
  400ml chicken or vegetable broth
  2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, optional
  ½ teaspoon salt
  ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
  Generous pinch of freshly ground pepper
  100g hard cheese such as Raclette or Gruyère, grated

• For the crunchy topping:

• 100g wholewheat breadcrumbs
  2 tablespoons salad-seed mix, roughly chopped
  1 tablespoon flaxseeds, ground
  1 tablespoon chia seeds
  3 tablespoons of olive oil
  ¼ teaspoon salt
  Pinch of freshly ground pepper
  ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions

• Heat 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a pan over medium heat.
• Add leek with a pinch of salt and sautée it for around 4 to 5 minutes, until fragrant and softened.
• Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.
• Turn up the heat to medium high and add minced turkey together with a pinch of salt and some freshly ground pepper. Cook, breaking it up as you go, until browned.
• Toss in the grated zucchini and spinach and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes. Sprinkle over a pinch of salt, freshly ground pepper, ½ teaspoon ground coriander and ¼ teaspoon chilli powder. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the zucchini is tender and its moisture has cooked off. Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool down slightly. 
• In the meantime, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta al dente -around 2 to 3 minutes shorter than the packet instructions. Drain the pasta, reserving around 80 -100 ml of cooked pasta water.
• Preheat the oven to 180C (375F) using the fan option. 
• Prepare the sauce – put cannellini beans, drained cashews, chicken broth, nutritional yeast (if using), salt, pepper and ground nutmeg in a high speed blender and whiz it up until smooth. Fold in grated cheese into the mixture.
• In a small bowl, combine breadcrumbs, salad seed mix, ground flaxseeds, chia seeds, olive oil, salt, pepper and ground nutmeg.
• In a large casserole, put the drained pasta, mix it with the ground turkey and zucchini mixture, pour over the sauce and stir to combine. If the pasta appears too dry, add ½ reserved pasta water. Sprinkle the crunchy topping over mixture.
• Bake in the oven for 20 minutes until the sauce is bubbly and the cheese has melted.

Recipe Video

Notes

• You can substitute ground turkey for ground chicken or beef or use crumbled tofu.
• For cooking the beans from scratch: place around 100g of dried cannellini beans in a pot and cover with cold water. Leave for at least 8 hours to soak or overnight. When ready to cook, drain the water and put the beans in a pot with fresh water and 1 teaspoon of salt, bring to a boil and cook for around 40 to 50 minutes, until tender.
• For the cashews: put the cashews in a bowl and cover with hot water for at least 20 minutes. Drain afterwards and use for the sauce.
• As the spelt pasta naturally absorbs more liquid while baking than the regular pasta, you should keep the cannellini bean and cashew sauce more liquid than you think – I recommend reserving around 80-100 ml of cooked pasta water and adding it to the blender mixture before pouring over the pasta and meat – the starchy pasta water ensures the interior stays luscious and velvety instead of dry.
• As the pasta will continue to cook in the oven, it is important to slightly undercook it – keep it very al dente – boil the pasta for 2-3 minutes less than the package instructions. This will keep the pasta tender with a pleasant, nutty chew rather than turning mushy.
• Prep ahead: You can assemble the pasta, sautéed vegetables, eat and bean sauce in your baking dish up to 24 hours in advance. Cover and refrigerate, but keep the crunchy topping separate in an air-tight container – scatter it over the top just before popping the dish into the oven so that the crust stays light and crispy.