Cheesy spinach & ricotta pasta bake
Appliance/Function:
Equipment
- 1 Tin foil
Ingredients
Pasta
- 1 Oil spray
- 300 grams Pasta shell, fusilli, spiral etc
Ricotta mixture
- 100 grams Mozzarella cheese
- 100 grams Parmesan cheese
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 300 grams Baby spinach
- 500 grams Ricotta cheese
Sauce
- 700 grams Tomato passata or pasta sauce
- 2 tsps Italian herbs
- 1 tsp Onion powder
- 1 tsp Garlic powder
Instructions
Cook pasta
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Preheat oven to 180°C fan bake. Spray a baking dish with oil. Add pasta to the pot of boiling water and cook according to the packet directions. When cooked reserve 1 cup of pasta water, then drain and set pasta aside.
Make ricotta mixture
- Meanwhile, grate the mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Peel and mince the garlic. Finely chop the spinach. In a large bowl, add ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheese (reserve some for the top), half of the garlic and the chopped spinach and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper. Add some reserved pasta water as needed to make it creamy. Add cooked pasta and stir to combine. Transfer to the prepared baking dish, and reserve the bowl.
Make sauce & bake
- In the reserved bowl add the tomato passata, remaining garlic, Italian herbs, onion powder and garlic powder and stir to combine. Then pour over the pasta and ricotta mixture and sprinkle over the reserved cheese. Loosely cover with foil and bake for 25 mins, then remove the cover and bake for a further 5-10 mins or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
To serve
- Divide the warm cheesy spinach & ricotta pasta bake between plates.
Nutrition
Calories: 765kcal | Carbohydrates: 83g | Protein: 44g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Cholesterol: 97mg | Sodium: 795mg | Potassium: 1576mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 12g | Calcium: 873mg | Iron: 7mg