Spinach And Ricotta Pasta Bake Food

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.

SPINACH AND RICOTTA PASTA BAKE RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 220C.
• Cook the pasta and spinach in boiling, salted for 10 minutes, until JUST cooked.
• 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 ricotta 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.

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.

SPINACH AND RICOTTA PASTA

Steps:

• Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions, or until al dente. Drain and reserve a cupful of the cooking water.
• If using fresh spinach, cook it with a splash of water in a saucepan for 1-2 minutes, or until wilted, then leave to cool. Squeeze all the liquid out of the spinach using your hands and roughly chop.
• Melt the butter in a large frying pan. Once foaming, add the spinach, garlic, cooked pasta and a splash of the pasta cooking water and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add more of the cooking water if needed. Add the ricotta and cook gently while mixing with two forks to break it up.
• Season with the nutmeg, percorino, salt and pepper and serve.

SPINACH & RICOTTA CANNELLONI

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Put the spinach and a drizzle of olive oil in a large pan over a low heat. Add the nutmeg, season with sea salt and black pepper, cover and leave to sweat. Help the kids to stir it occasionally until the spinach has cooked down. Place in a bowl and set to one side to cool a little.
• Dice the onion and squash the garlic. In the same pan, heat a drizzle of olive oil and gently sweat the onion until soft.
• Scrunch in the tomatoes through your clean hands and add the garlic and bay leaf. Pick in a few basil leaves and grate in the zest of the lemon half, then let it gently simmer for 20 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
• Have the kids squeeze the moisture out of the spinach into the bowl. Place the spinach on a board so you can chop it up. Return the spinach to the liquid in the bowl.
• Beat the egg and grate 2 teaspoons of Parmesan cheese. Get the kids to stir the ricotta, egg and Parmesan into the spinach. Season to taste.
• Sit a piping bag in a jug, fold its edges over the rim, then spoon in the spinach mixture. Have the kids help pipe the mixture into the cannelloni tubes and lay them in a 20cm x 25cm oven dish.
• Spread the tomato sauce over the cannelloni. Pick the remaining basil leaves and scatter most of them over the tomato sauce. Slice the mozzarella and lay the slices on top, drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil and season.
• Place in the oven and cook for 35 to 40 minutes or till the top is golden and the pasta tender (if the top browns too fast, cover the dish with foil). Remove from the oven and let stand for a few minutes before serving with the remaining basil leaves.

SPINACH & RICOTTA PASTA BAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
• Pasta Sauce: Pour out about 1/4 cup of the passata (to make room to add flavourings). Add the remaining Pasta Sauce ingredients into the bottle, screw the lid on and give 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 ingredients in a very large bowl. Use a splash of pasta cooking water if needed to make it creamy.
• Add pasta and stir to combine. Transfer to a heatproof baking dish.
• Top with Pasta Sauce, top with cheese. Loosely cover with foil.
• Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
• Serve while hot and fresh!

LEMON RICOTTA PASTA & SPINACH

Steps:

• In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Meanwhile, make the ricotta sauce.
• In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, olive oil, parmesan cheese, garlic, lemon zest and juice. Season with 1/4 tsp of salt and a good pinch of pepper.
• Stir until well combined, taste and make sure you're happy with the seasoning.
• In the last minute of the pasta's cooking time, reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, then and add spinach to the pot. Stir well and push the leaves down to submerge them in water.
• After 1 minute, drain and return pasta and spinach to the same pot.
• Add the ricotta sauce and part of the reserved cooking water. Stir well to evenly coat the pasta in the sauce, add more cooking water as needed, you want a smooth and creamy texture.
• Serve immediately and garnish with grated or shaved Parmesan cheese, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and lemon wedges if desired (for extra freshly squeezed juice, but I leave it optional). Plus, I love adding a good pinch of red pepper flakes, you might give it a go. Enjoy!

CHORIZO, RICOTTA & SPINACH PASTA BAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the pasta following pack instructions. Drain, reserving 1 tbsp of the cooking water. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the chorizo and cook for 3-4 mins until crisp. Throw in the spinach, garlic and some seasoning, and cook until just wilted. Tip into a bowl with the pasta and the reserved 1 tbsp cooking water, then mix well.
• Mix the ricotta, milk and lemon zest together with some seasoning. Spoon half the pasta into a gratin dish and spoon over half the ricotta mix. Top with the remaining pasta and dollop over spoonfuls of the remaining ricotta. Scatter with the Parmesan and bake for 15 mins until the cheese has melted. Grind over some black pepper before serving.

SPINACH AND RICOTTA PASTA BAKE

Steps:

• Tomato sauce - Combine the tomatoes, garlic salt, chili flakes, basil, oregano and rosemary.
• Combine the cooked pasta with spinach, ricotta and nutmeg.
• Place the pasta in a dish and top with tomato sauce. Bake in oven at 350F for 15-20 minutes. Serve with fresh ground black pepper and parmasan.

SPINACH AND RICOTTA PASTA BAKE

Steps:

• Preheat an oven to 180 degrees Celsius
• In a pot of salted, boiling water, cook the pasta until al dente (this should take 12-15 minutes).
• While the pasta is cooking, fill another saucepan with water and bring to the boil.
• Once boiling, add the spinach leaves and cook for 3-5 minutes, until the spinach is wilted.
• Remove the spinach from the water, drain excess water from the spinach, chop into pieces and set aside.
• Place the pasta, spinach, ricotta, nutmeg, cracked pepper and sea salt (to taste) in a large mixing bowl or deep baking dish.
• Toss to combine all the ingredients, and top with the grated cheddar cheese.
• Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and golden brown on top.
• Serve immediately.

SPINACH AND RICOTTA BAKED PASTA

Steps:

• Set oven to 350 degrees.
• Butter a 4-quart baking dish.
• Cook pasta in boiling water, until firm-tender; drain.
• Place the cooked pasta in the casserole dish.
• In a large pot of boiling water BLANCH the spinach (don't overcook!); cool, squeeze out excess liquid, then roughly chop the spinach.
• In a bowl combine spinach, ricotta, sour cream, eggs, Parmesan cheese, dill, pepper and salt.
• Spoon mixture over the pasta in the casserole dish; toss lightly to combine.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
• Let stand for 5 minutes before serving Cut in wedges-- enjoy!

LOW-FAT SPINACH AND RICOTTA PASTA

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook pasta according to package directions.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté until onions are soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes, making sure the garlic doesn't brown.
• Add spinach and basil to the skillet and stir until wilted.
• Then add ricotta cheese and milk (and optional lemon juice and zest) to skillet and stir well.
• Drain pasta, reserving 1/4 cup or so of the cooking water.
• Combine cooked pasta and ricotta mixture in a large bowl. If it is too thick, add a bit of the cooking water to the mixture.
• Serve immediately with some freshly ground black pepper and an optional 1 teaspoon of grated Parmesan cheese per serving.

BAKED PASTA WITH SPINACH, RICOTTA, AND PROSCIUTTO

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook pasta a few minutes less than package instructions suggest. Cut prosciutto into thin strips.
• In a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, toss pasta with spinach, half of prosciutto, milk, ricotta, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Top with remaining prosciutto and Parmesan. Bake until golden, 30 to 40 minutes.

SPINACH-RICOTTA STUFFED SHELLS

Steps:

• Make the sauce: Heat the olive oil in a large wide pot over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, oregano, red pepper flakes, 1/2 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring, until thickened, 15 to 20 minutes; season with salt. (You should have about 4 heaping cups of sauce.)
• Make the stuffed shells: Preheat the oven to 375˚ F. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta shells and cook as the label directs for baking, about 9 minutes. Rinse under cold water to stop the cooking. Spread out on a baking sheet.
• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the spinach and cook, tossing occasionally, until wilted, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove to a large plate lined with a kitchen towel. Squeeze to remove any excess liquid, then finely chop.
• Put the spinach in a large bowl and add the ricotta, mozzarella, parsley, Parmesan, lemon zest, beaten egg, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Stir until combined.
• To assemble, spread about half of the sauce in the bottom of a 10-by-14-inch baking dish. Evenly fill the shells with the spinach-ricotta mixture using a spoon, or pipe it in using a pastry bag. Arrange the shells side by side, open-side up, in the baking dish on top of the sauce, then top with the remaining sauce.
• Cover the dish with foil and bake until heated through and the sauce is simmering around the edges, about 30 minutes. Remove the foil and bake until any shells or cheese poking through the sauce are lightly browned in spots, about 10 more minutes. Let sit 10 minutes. Top with more Parmesan and red pepper flakes.