Easy Baked Penne with Cheddar, Mozzarella and Tomatoes Recipe & Award Winning Cheeses at Loblaws

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I don’t know about you but my kids love cheese!  They could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Anytime of day they will accept cheese as a snack, which I’m completely okay with, since it’s easy to grab and go and pairs well with just about anything.  Another thing about cheese is there are so many choices, there are hundreds of varieties right in your local Loblaws grocery store! With more than 300 cheese available in-stores – including 15 of the Champion and Finalist cheeses – Loblaws is excited to share these award-winning, Canadian cheeses with cheese lovers everywhere. How awesome it that?  Now, my kids are not into the more ‘exotic’ cheeses…yet (it’s a work in progress!) but I can certainly mix it up between different cheddar and havarti for them.  Now for myself, I love to mix it up a little and try different cheeses.  Did you know they even give out awards for cheese?  That is right the Canadian Cheese Awards is the only cheese competition in Canada open to all milks used in cheese making, including cow, goat, sheep, and water buffalo.  Ohhhhhh goat cheese…. I am getting hungry just thinking about it!  And you don’t have to go far to fine award winning cheeses.  In the expansive cheese selection that the Loblaws chain of stores offers you can find award winning cheeses including:

  • Cheese of the Year Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar, which also took home Best Aged Cheddar (aged more than 18 months) and Best B.C. Cheese
  • Best Fresh Pasta Filata, President’s Choice® Formaggio di Bufala
  • Best Feta/Cheese in Brine, President’s Choice® Feta Light
  • Best Firm Cheese with Holes, Oka l’Artisan
  • Best Old Cheddar (aged from 9 to 18 months) and Best Goat Cheese, Lindsay Bandaged Goat Cheddar

Pair a tasty cheese with a glass of wine and a nice cracker, and I am all set for a Friday night snack!  One ‘cheesy’ recipe I love to make for our family is Baked Penne with Cheddar, Mozzarella and Tomatoes, because if there is one thing that my kids like more then cheese, it’s pasta!

Baked Penne with Cheddar, Mozzarella and Tomatoes

Print Pin
4.74 from 15 votes

Easy Baked Penne with Cheddar, Mozzarella and Tomatoes

Course Main Dish
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes

Ingredients

  • • 1 pkg 454g penne pasta
  • • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • • 4 cloves garlic chopped
  • • 2 cups chopped white onion
  • • 2 cans 796 mls each tomatoes
  • • 1 jar 270 mls PC Splendido Tomato Pesto
  • • 1 1/2 cups No Name mozzarella shredded cheese
  • • 1 cup No Name shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). Grease a 13 x 9 inch casserole dish.
  • In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the penne for 5 minutes and drain. The pasta will still be slightly hard.
  • Meanwhile, place tomatoes (juices and all) into a large bowl and crush them using a potato masher.
  • In a large saucepan heat oil over medium-low heat. Add onions and cook until softened (usually 7-10 min). Stir in garlic. Add crushed tomatoes and stir in pesto. Increase heat to medium, cook for 8-10 minutes or until sauce is hot.
  • In a large bowl toss the sauce with the pasta and scrape into prepared baking dish. Top with shredded mozzarella and cheddar. Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and browned.

 

Easy Baked Penne with Cheddar Mozzerella and Tomatoes

Everyone loved this recipe at our house (they even ate the tomatoes!) and the best part – it was very easy to make.  Here is a step by step to show you how!

Ingredients

  • 1 pkg (454g) penne pasta
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 cups chopped white onion
  • 2 cans (796 mls each) tomatoes
  • 1 jar (270 mls) PC Splendido Tomato Pesto
  • 1 1/2 cups No Name mozzarella shredded cheese
  • 1 cup No Name cheddar shredded cheese

Easy Baked Penne with Cheddar Mozzarella and Tomatoes

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C).  Grease a 13 x 9 inch glass baking dish.
  1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the penne for 5 minutes and drain.  The pasta will still be slightly hard.
  1. Meanwhile, place tomatoes (juices and all) into a large bowl and crush them using a potato masher.

Easy Baked Penne with Cheddar Mozzarella and Tomatoes

  1. In a large saucepan heat oil over medium-low heat.  Add onions and cook until softened (usually 6-8 min).  Stir in garlic.  Add crushed tomatoes, then stir in pesto.  Increase heat to medium, cook for 8-10 minutes or until sauce is hot.

Easy Baked Penne with Cheddar Mozzarella and Tomatoes

  1. In a large bowl toss the sauce with the pasta and scrape into prepared baking dish.  Top with shredded mozzarella and cheddar.  Bake uncovered for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is melted and browned. 

Easy Baked Penne with Cheddar Mozzarella and Tomatoes

YUM!

Easy Baked Penne with Cheddar Mozzarella and Tomatoes

So, what do you think?  I added a little more cheese then the recipe mentioned…I couldn’t help myself!  If you love cheese and want something a little different check out Marinated Goats Cheese, it tastes amazing!!

Disclosure: This post was brought to you by Loblaws.  All opinions are strictly my own.

 

 

93 thoughts on “Easy Baked Penne with Cheddar, Mozzarella and Tomatoes Recipe & Award Winning Cheeses at Loblaws”

  3. Wanda Tracey

    5 stars
    My favorite kind of cheese for cooking with is Mozarella…and…/or… Cheddar &….my favorite snacking cheese is Brie….Yummmmmzzz!!his was a very hard decision for me because I love them all.Thank you for the chance to participate in this awesome contest!!

    Reply
  4. Gloria Roy

    My favourite cooking cheese is mozzarella, my favourite snacking cheese is cheddar. Thanks for this opportunity to win:) good luck everyone

    Reply
  8. Andrea Amy

    5 stars
    I love most cheese but my favourite is harvarti 🙂 I also really love old cheddar. The older the better!

    Reply
  21. Elizabeth Matthiesen

    5 stars
    I love cheese, especially Gouda, Leerdamer, Emmentaler, Cheddar, Red Leicester, Feta and Mozarella and in that order too.

    Reply
  26. sabina Edwards

    5 stars
    OH GOD I am so hungry for noodles (And I really dont know why) so I think I’m going to make this for myself tonight LOL

    Reply
  29. sabina Edwards

    5 stars
    OK so my favorite type of cheese is Swiss and although my family might not know it, I actually buy it fairly often (I just don’t ever share it with them) I love the taste, the texture and I guess its my indulgence.

    Reply
  39. Bailey Dexter

    I love PC cheeses, there are so many different textures and flavours to choose from, great selection! My families favourite is the PC Tex Mex Cheese Blend, but if I’m having just “me” time I go for the soft brie, slightly heated in the oven with crackers or bread pieces and some roasted garlic on the side!

    Reply
  45. Viv Sluys

    Oh how I love cheese! My top 3 favourite cheeses are jalapeño havarti, smoked gouda, and Firm Ripened Irish Cheddar. My daughters bought me cheese for Mother’s Day…

    Reply
  46. Ira

    It’s hard to tell, I Really love a lot of cheeses, but I probably miss the smoked Gouda the most. It was relatively cheap staple of my childhood food, but here and now is very expensive…

    Reply
  70. Carey Hurst

    Cheese is such a huge part of my life since I was little. If I had to pick my fave it would be seriously aged cheddar the sharper the better

    Reply

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