Spinach Ricotta Pasta Bake
The spinach and ricotta pasta cooking is made with creamy ricotta and tons of spinach mixed with pasta, topped with pasta sauce, cheese, then cooked until golden brown and bubbling . It tastes like a shell stuffed with spinach and ricotta - but much quicker to make!
Ingredients
- 350 g frozen or fresh spinach if you prefer, see notes
- 250 g Shapes of dried pasta
For the tomato sauce:
- 1 tablespoon of dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 2 teaspoons of garlic powder
- 800 g canned tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon of tomato puree
- 0.5 tsp. 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes or more, to taste
- 1 tablespoon of honey or sugar if you prefer
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
For the ricotta sauce:
- 100g grated mozzarella
- 250 g Ricotta See recipe notes
- 50g grated Parmesan (optional)
- 2 teaspoons of garlic powder
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
To garnish:
- 150 g of grated mozzarella
To garnish:
- 20 g fresh basil
Instructions
First, preheat the oven to 220 ° C.
Then, cook pasta and spinach to a boil, salted, for 10 minutes, until just cooked through.
Meanwhile, open the canned tomatoes and drain the liquid through a sieve.
Add all other tomato sauce ingredients to the drained tomatoes and mix well.
When the pasta and spinach are cooked, drain most of the water (see recipe notes).
Add the ingredients for the ricotta sauce and mix well, but gently. Pour into a casserole dish.
Top with the tomato mixture and remaining mozzarella cheese.
Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is golden brown and bubbling.
Sprinkle with fresh basil and serve. Happy Cooking Time.
Recipe Notes
Check pasta and spinach cooking instructions, in case you say less or more than 10 minutes.
If you are using fresh spinach, don't boil for 10 minutes, just add the pasta to boiling water for 2 minutes before draining.
If you want a more moist and creamy sauce, you can use 2 packets of ricotta instead of 1, i.e. 500g.
Parmesan is optional, but I try to use it if we have it available as it adds a nice flavor. Grana Padano is a good, slightly cheaper alternative to Parmesan.
When you drain the pasta and spinach, let some water remain. This tasty starchy water will make a sauce with the ricotta. To do this, I tend to just drip through a sieve, very quickly to drain most but not ALL of the water.
