Spinach and Ricotta Pasta Bake Recipe
This Spinach and Ricotta Pasta Bake is SO easy to make. Full of delicious cheese flavours and on the table in under 30 minutes (with NO sauce making).
Servings: 4 People
Ingredients
- 250 g Dried pasta
- 450 g Fresh spinach See notes.
For the tomato sauce:
- 800 g Tinned tomatoes
- 1 tbsp Tomato puree
- 2 tsp Garlic powder
- 1 tbsp Dried oregano
- 1 tbsp Honey Or sugar if you prefer.
- 0.5 tsp Dried chilli flakes Or more, to taste.
- 2 tbsp Olive oil
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
For the ricotta sauce:
- 250 g Ricotta cheese See notes.
- 100 g Mozzarella Grated.
- 2 tsp Garlic powder
- 50 g Parmesan cheese Grated (optional).
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
For topping:
- 150 g Mozzarella Grated.
To garnish:
- 20 g Fresh basil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C/400F.
- Cook the pasta in boiling, salted water for 10 minutes.
- IF USING FROZEN SPINACH: Add spinach in with the pasta for 10 minutes.IF USING FRESH SPINACH: Add fresh spinach 2 minute before the pasta is cooked and allow to wilt in the water before draining everything.
- Meanwhile, open the tinned tomatoes and drain the liquid from them using a sieve.
- Add all of the other tomato sauce ingredients to the drained tomatoes and stir well.
- When the pasta and spinach are cooked, drain the majority of the water (see recipe notes).
- Add the cheese sauce ingredients and stir thoroughly, but gently. Pour into a casserole dish.
- Top with the tomato mixture and the remaining mozzarella cheese.
- Pop into the oven for 15 minutes or until the cheese is golden and bubbling.
- Sprinkle with fresh basil and serve.
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Notes
Pasta: Check the pasta cooking time and adjust accordingly in case it is longer than the 10 minutes mentioned above.
Spinach: If using frozen spinach, boil for a full 10 minutes with the pasta. If you're using fresh, it will only need 1-2 minutes with the water at the end of cooking.
Creamier sauce: If you would like a wetter, creamier sauce, you can use two packs of ricotta instead of one (so 500g/1.1lb).
Parmesan: Parmesan cheese is optional, but I try and use it if we have it available as it adds a lovely flavour. Grana Padano is a good, slightly cheaper alternative to Parmesan.
Keep some water: When you drain the pasta and spinach, allow a little water to remain. This tasty starchy water will make a sauce with the ricotta. To do this, I tend to just drain in a sieve, very quickly to get the majority but not ALL of the water out.
Nutrition
Calories: 761kcal | Carbohydrates: 77g | Protein: 41g | Fat: 34g | Saturated Fat: 17g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 90mg | Sodium: 1009mg | Potassium: 1569mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 17g | Vitamin A: 12157IU | Vitamin C: 51mg | Calcium: 819mg | Iron: 8mg