Best 8 Italian Spinach Pasta Bake Recipes

BAKED PENNE WITH SPINACH, RICOTTA & FONTINA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 450°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Lightly oil a 9 x 13-inch ceramic baking dish.
• Cook the penne in boiling salted water until al dente, about 9 minutes. (It will cook more in the oven so you don't want it completely cooked.) Drain, then place the cooked penne back in the pan and set aside.
• In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade, combine the spinach, basil, ricotta, cream cheese, half-and-half, 1 cup of the fontina, 3 tablespoons of the Parmigiano Reggiano, garlic, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Process until puréed.
• Add the spinach mixture to the pasta and stir to combine. Transfer to the prepared baking dish. Top with the remaining fontina and Parmigiano Reggiano. Bake until the pasta is bubbling and the top is golden in spots, about 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes, then serve.

ITALIAN PASTA BAKE

Steps:

• In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until no longer pink. Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer. Drain. Stir in spaghetti sauce, diced tomatoes, mushrooms and Italian seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes., Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. Add to beef mixture and gently stir in sliced plum tomatoes. , Transfer to an ungreased 13x9-in. baking dish. Sprinkle with cheeses. Bake 25-30 minutes or until bubbly and heated through.

SAUSAGE SPINACH PASTA BAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°. Cook pasta according to package directions., Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook turkey and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink. Add garlic. Cook 1 minute longer; drain. Stir in tomatoes, oregano, basil and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 10 minutes., Drain pasta; stir into turkey mixture. Add spinach and cream; heat through. Transfer to a 13x9-in. baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with cheeses. Bake, uncovered, 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.

SPINACH ALFREDO PASTA BAKE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the pasta in the boiling water, draining it about 2 minutes before the time on the package. It should still be a bit firm. Rinse it in cold water to stop the cooking process and set aside.
• Mix the ricotta with the parsley and lemon zest in a small bowl and set aside.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter.
• In a large deep skillet over medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the mushrooms have given up their liquid, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the spinach and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the spinach has wilted. Remove the vegetables and set aside, leaving any liquid in the skillet.
• Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the skillet. Pour in the wine and let it bubble up and reduce for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Add the half-and-half and cream, season with salt and pepper and cook, whisking, until it's all combined. If it gets too thick as it cooks, you can thin it with a little vegetable broth. When the sauce looks good, remove it from the heat and stir in 3/4 cup of the Parmesan.
• Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a small pan. Remove from the heat and stir in the breadcrumbs and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan.
• In the buttered baking dish, stir together the pasta, vegetables and sauce. (Add a splash of broth if needed). Add spoonfuls of the ricotta mixture, pushing them a bit into the pasta. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the top of the pasta. Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and cook until the top is brown and the mixture is bubbling, about 20 minutes more.

CHEESY SPINACH BAKED PENNE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Mist a 2 to 2 1/2-quart rectangular or oval baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the penne and cook according to package directions for al dente.
• While the pasta cooks, heat the oil in a medium pot set over medium heat. Add the fennel seeds and garlic and cook until aromatic, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, basil sprig, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Simmer, lowering the heat if the sauce bubbles too vigorously, until the sauce has thickened slightly, the flavors have blended together and the raw tomato taste has cooked out, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, discard the basil and season with additional salt and pepper. Pour over the cooked pasta and toss well to coat. Add the cubed mozzarella and transfer half the pasta to the prepared baking dish.
• Put the cottage cheese in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Add the shredded mozzarella and Parmesan and pulse two to three times. Combine half the cottage cheese mixture with the spinach and mix to break up the spinach. Drop in spoonfuls over the pasta in the baking dish. Top the spinach layer with the rest of the pasta and then the remaining cottage cheese mixture.
• Bake until bubbly and golden brown on top, about 30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes, and then scatter the torn basil over the top.

SPINACH PASTA FROM SCRATCH

Steps:

• Start boiling a large pot of water.
• NOTES: a) If using frozen spinach, skip steps 3-5; b) if omitting the spinach, use 1 1/4 cups of flour.
• Heat a skillet to medium heat, and add spinach; don't use cooking spray or oil.
• Cook spinach for about 30 seconds, stirring continuously. Spinach should turn a bright green color.
• Plunge spinach immediately into an ice water bath to stop the cooking process.
• When spinach has cooled down to lukewarm temperature, squeeze out the excess moisture using a cheesecloth.
• Add spinach, olive oil, eggs, and salt to food processor and run until fully blended.
• Add flour to food processor and run until blended. If the mixture is still sticky, add flour.
• Remove dough from food processor. Roll dough into a ball and wrap in plastic wrap. Allow to rest at room temperature for 20 minutes.
• Transfer dough to a work surface that's generously dusted with flour. Cut dough into 4 pieces.
• If using a pasta maker, roll each piece out with a rolling pin until it's about 1/4" thick. If not using a pasta maker, roll until thin and hand-cut as desired.
• Shape dough into rectangles and run through pasta maker, starting with the widest setting. If the dough sticks in the rollers, dust the dough and the rollers with flour.
• Continue rolling dough through the rollers, gradually reducing the setting to flatten it as desired. NOTE: spinach pasta may need to be 1 setting wider than you normally want because of the stickiness of the dough.
• Cut pasta into shapes using the appropriate attachment.
• Lower pasta into water (don't drop it) and boil for a few minutes. Don't crowd the pot with pasta, as this can cause pasta to stick together.
• NOTE: Don't dump the whole pot of cooked pasta into a strainer the way you might with dry, boxed pasta. If transferring to a strainer, don't rinse with water.
• Using tongs or a spider skimmer, remove pasta from the water and transfer to a different container. Doing it this way will help the pasta keep its shape, and allow you to use hot water for the remainder of the boil.

ITALIAN SPINACH BAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F.
• In a medium bowl, combine spinach, Ricotta, garlic, salt and pepper.
• Spread 1/2 the spinach mixture in the bottom of 8x8 inch baking dish and top with 1 sliced tomato.
• Repeat layers and top with shredded cheeses.
• Bake 20 minutes.

ITALIAN SPINACH & PASTA BAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 3qt baking dish.
• Boil the water and cook the pasta according to package directions. DO NOT ever add oil to the water! It will make your sauce slide off the pasta later.
• Meanwhile heat butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, add onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
• Add the heavy cream, romano cheese, Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Whisk and cook until thickened slightly, about 5 minutes. Add spinach.
• In a little bowl, mix the ricotta and the egg together and add this and the cooked pasta to the skillet. Toss to mix everything up and spoon into baking dish.
• Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes. Remove foil, sprinkle evenly with mozzarella and then a little paprika to give it a pretty color. Return to oven for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and starting to brown.