One bake, two bake, three bake?

There was a lot of oven action involved in today's dish. On the menu was a baked penne with tofu "sausage", mushrooms, and broccoli. Of course, I would have loved to throw in all the ingredients raw and allow it to bake in the oven. That would have been the easy way. However, it left more uncertainty to the final product. The flavors, taste, depth, and texture was much more important to me than saving and hour or so of time. So there I was, baking away today.

Tofu "sausage", mushroom, and broccoli baked penne
Mixed greens with house balsamic vinaigrette

Before I assembled the casserole, everything was pre-cooked:

• a white wine marinara sauce made of extra-virgin olive oil, garlic, white wine, yellow onions, tomatoes, basil, tarragon, dried oregano, lemon juice, and also sun-dried tomatoes;
• tofu sausage where crumbled tofu was sauteed with a melange of roasted fennel, paprika, garlic powder, dried oregano, onion powder, red chili flakes, and tomato paste;
• broccoli and mushrooms simply tossed in extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted;
  
• penne pasta cooked in salted water and
• a nutty mixture of macadamia nuts, lemon zest and juice, and parsley.

All of the above with the addition of Daiya shredded mozzarella cheese were mixed together and put into a casserole dish. It was then layered with additional marinara and "cheese". After baking the casserole for about 20 minutes at 350F with foil on, the foil was removed. Bread crumbs tossed in melted vegan soy butter was sprinkled on top and the penne was then baked again at 400F for 8 minutes until brown. Next time I would oil the foil a bit as some of the cheese melted and stuck to the foil after baking.