Spinach #Ricotta #Pasta #Bake

Spinach Ricotta Pasta Bake is made with creamy ricotta and lots of spinach stirred by way of pasta, topped with pasta sauce, cheese after which baked till bubbly and golden. It tastes like a Spinach and Ricotta crammed shells – but method quicker to make!

Ingredients 300g / 10 oz ziti pasta, uncooked, or different quick pasta of choice 1.5 cups (150g) mozzarella cheese , shredded (or more!) RICOTTA MIXTURE 1 lb / 500 g ricotta (Note 1) 1/2 cup (50g) parmesan cheese , grated 2 garlic cloves , crushed 350g / 12oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and extra liquid pressed out 1 cup (100g) grated Mozzarella cheese 3/4 tsp salt & pepper SHORTCUT PASTA SAUCE 1 tbsp additional virgin olive oil 2 garlic cloves , minced 24 oz / 700g tomato passata (1 primary bottle) (Note 2) 1 tsp EACH onion and garlic powder 2 tsp dried Italian Mixed Herbs (Note 3) 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes , to style (optional) 1 tsp sugar 1 tsp salt Black pepper 2 tbsp water (if needed) TO SERVE Parmesan cheese , grated Instructions Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Pasta Sauce: Pour out about 1/4 cup of the passata (to make room so as to feature flavourings). Add the closing Pasta Sauce foods into the bottle, screw the lid on and provide it a shake. Cook pasta for time per packet MINUS 1 minute.  SCOOP OUT 1 mugful pasta cooking water, drain and set aside. Ricotta Mixture - Mix Ricotta Mixture foods in a actually huge bowl. Use a touch of pasta cooking water if had to make it creamy. Add pasta and stir to combine. Transfer to a heatproof baking dish. Top with Pasta Sauce, higher with cheese. Loosely hide with foil. Bake for 25 minutes, then take away the hide and bake for another 10 minutes or till the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve whereas hot and fresh!  Recipe Notes: 1. Ricotta - Some ricottas are mushy and creamy, others are a section drier and additional crumbly. Use pasta cooking water to loosen ricotta so it's tossed by way of the pasta (see video for consistency). Spinach - or use 1 huge bunch of fresh, shredded. 3. Mixed Italian Herbs is a dried herb blend you possibly can get from the supermarket which expenses the identical as different herbs. You can change with a combination of different dried herbs - basil, parsley, oregano and thyme cross highly well. 4. Tomato passata is strained pureed canned tomatoes. Readily reachable in supermarkets nowadays, often alongside pasta sauces, identical fee as canned tomatoes. US/Canada greatest sub - what you understand as Tomato Sauce (eg. Hunts) 5. Storage - Keep leftovers within the fridge and reheat in microwave. To freeze, gather but don't bake, then freeze. Thaw then bake per recipe.  NUTRITION INFORMATION: Calories: 569kcal (28%)Carbohydrates: 53g (18%)Protein: 32g (64%)Fat: 26g (40%)Saturated Fat: 14g (88%)Cholesterol: 81mg (27%)Sodium: 1346mg (59%)Potassium: 782mg (22%)Fiber: 5g (21%)Sugar: 8g (9%)Vitamin A: 7860IU (157%)Vitamin C: 14.6mg (18%)Calcium: 611mg (61%)Iron: 3.8mg (21%)

Fabulous lazy Monday meal – comprised of scratch, utilizing my cheeky “shake and pour” shortcut pasta sauce!

Spinach and Ricotta
Spinach and ricotta. We stuff issues with it (Cannelloni, Rotolo, shells!), we layer issues with it, we roll it up in puff pastry and we wrap it in pastry.

So why don’t we stir it by way of pasta bakes?

This is a lazy Monday meal I’ve been making for years. I understand it’s just a section different, but here is tasty. It tastes like spinach and ricotta cannelloni or crammed shells – but with out the labour.

Look at this pile of gooey, juicy deliciousness….no dry ricotta in MY pasta bakes!

Shake and pour pasta sauce!
Because here is a lazy meal, I make this with my shortcut do-it-yourself pasta sauce. It’s a shortcut recipe simply due to the fact I don’t prepare dinner it at the range with sautéed onions and garlic like I ordinarily do. All I do is upload pasta sauce flavourings proper appropriate into a bottle of tomato passata, shake then pour it over the pasta bake.

Sub for tomato passata?
Tomato passata is pureed strained uncooked tomatoes, unflavoured. It’s offered in tall bottles within the pasta phase of most supermarkets in Australia nowadays, and expenses round the identical as canned tomato. If you’re within the US or Canada, I’ve viewed it at Walmart and proper the following are simply a few Amazon – Mutti (excellent Italian model I use) and Cento (a nice worth one). Or sub with what you understand as tomato sauce.

What is going in Spinach Ricotta Pasta Bake
Here’s a photo of the ingredients. For convenience, I use frozen spinach proper the following but recent might be utilized in a cinch.

As for the ricotta, any sort will work here. Some are creamier and softer than others which makes it simple to blend into the pasta.

If yours is the thicker additional crumbly type, it’s an simple repair – simply stir by way of a few of the pasta cooking water to loosen it up. The starch within the pasta cooking water will make the ricotta combination bind higher than utilizing usual water or milk to loosen the mixture. The identical impact as tossing pasta by way of pasta sauces proper earlier than serving – it’s known as emulsifying the sauce (what a present off!).

Ingredients in Spinach Ricotta Pasta Bake

Overhead photograph of Spinach Ricotta Pasta Bake recent out of the oven, able to be served

This actually does style like a Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni* – with out the fiddly stuffing of the cannelloni tubes. Because as a lot as all of us love consuming these crammed tubes of pasta smothered in tomato sauce and molten cheese, nobody’s leaping off the sofa to supply to assist stuff them. Right??

So – are you feeling lazy correct this moment too? -Nagi x

* For these of you within the US & Canada – cannelloni is simply the identical as manicotti, besides the tubes are moderately smaller and smooth, no ridges. Just as tasty!

ALL THINGS SPINACH AND RICOTTA!
Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni
Spinach and Ricotta Rolls
Baked Spinach and Ricotta Rotolo – and it tastes as remarkable simply due to the fact it looks!
Ricotta and Spinach Puff Pastry Bites
Vegetarian Lasagna

AND MORE BIG JUICY PASTA BAKES
Baked Ziti
Ultra Lazy HEALTHY Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bake
Tuna Pasta Bake
Seafood Gratin Pasta Bake
Cheeseburger Casserole (Homemade Hamburger Helper) – OK, so it’s no longer baked, nevertheless it surely seems to be like a pasta bake!
Chili Mac and Cheese – ditto for this one
Close up of Spinach Ricotta Pasta Bake recent out of the oven, able to be served

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Spinach & Ricotta Pasta Bake
Recipe video above. A lazy meal for midweek that tastes like spinach and ricotta crammed shells or cannelloni - but with out all of the labour! Feel unfastened to make use of your favorite shop purchased pasta sauce for the ones who prefer. Reheats nicely and freezes nicely too!