Spinach Pasta Bake Food

SPINACH PASTA BAKE

Steps:

• Spray a frying pan with some cooking oil spray.
• Add the onion, carrot and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes to soften.
• Add in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, vinegar, herbs and water, bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for about 10-15 minutes.
• Add to a blender (or use a stick blender and blend until smooth (you can leave the sauce as is if you prefer).
• Taste sauce and season as needed with salt and black pepper.
• Preheat oven to 180c/Fan 160c/350f or gas mark 4
• Cook pasta accordingly to package instructions until al dente. Reserve a little of the pasta water
• Combine the sauce with the pasta and chopped spinach until all mixed well. Add in a little of the reserved pasta water if needed to loosen sauce.
• Add to an ovenproof dish and top with the cheeses.
• Bake for approx 25-30 minutes until cheese on top is melted and lightly golden.
• Serve and enjoy!!

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 ARTICHOKE PASTA BAKE

Steps:

• Microwave the spinach according to the package instructions, then allow to cool slightly. Squeeze out the excess water with a kitchen towel and set aside.
• Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add the rigatoni and cook 2 minutes less than the package instructions. Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the pasta water before draining.
• In a large room-temperature saucepan, add the olive oil and garlic. Turn on the heat to medium and allow the garlic to cook until lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the crushed red pepper flakes, then add the spinach and artichokes and saute 2 to 3 minutes. Add about 3/4 cup pasta water and the cream cheese and dried basil to the saucepan and allow the cream cheese to melt, 3 to 4 minutes. Add 1/4 to 1/2 cup more of the pasta water if necessary to thin out the sauce, and season with salt and pepper. Stir in the grated Parmesan.
• Add the rigatoni to the sauce and stir to coat. Transfer to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish (if your pan is oven-safe, you can skip this step). Top with the shredded mozzarella. Broil on high until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

LIGHTER LEMONY PASTA AND SPINACH BAKE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6
• Cook the macaroni in boiling water for 6 minutes. Add the broccoli and cook for another 2 minutes. Turn off the heat, add the spinach and leave to stand with the lid on for 2 minutes. Drain well and set aside
• Heat the oil in a heavy-based frying pan. Fry the spring onions for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and fry for another 2 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring all the time, for 1-2 minutes. Slowly pour in the milk, add the bay leaves and season with salt and pepper. Continue simmering for 2-3 minutes, until thickened. Remove the bay leaves.
• Stir in the mustard, lemon zest and three quarters of the Parmesan, then season well.
• Tip the pasta and broccoli into a shallow baking dish. Pour over the sauce and mix well. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese and bake for 15-20 minutes.
• Serve with the dressed salad leaves.

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.

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!

CAULIFLOWER CHEESE & SPINACH PASTA BAKES

Steps:

• For the tomato sauce, cook the sliced garlic in the oil for 1 min, then add the passata. Season, half-cover the pan and simmer for 20 mins until rich.
• Meanwhile, make the cheese sauce. Put the milk, flour and 50g butter into a pan. Heat, whisking non-stop, until smooth, then bubble for 3 mins, stirring to make sure any flouriness is lost. Cool for 5 mins, then stir in the mustard, most of the cheddar, half the blue cheese and half the nutmeg.
• Boil the penne and cauliflower for 8 mins in salted water until the pasta is almost cooked and the cauli is tender. Keep 2 tbsp water from the pan, then drain. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a pan, add the whole garlic clove, spinach, remaining nutmeg, salt and lots of black pepper. Stir for 2 mins, then remove the garlic clove.
• Set aside 300ml cheese sauce and mix the rest into the cauli and pasta. Divide half the tomato sauce between 6 dishes and top with some spinach. Fill with cauli mix, top with more spinach, then the rest of the tomato sauce. Top with the cheese sauce, cheeses and pine nuts. Cover with cling film, cool and chill for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 1 month. To cook, defrost if frozen. Heat oven to 200C/ 180C fan/gas 6. Cook on a baking sheet for 18-20 mins until golden and bubbling. Good with green salad or garlic bread.

GREEK SPINACH PASTA BAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 2-quart baking dish and small nonstick skillet with cooking spray. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well; set aside.
• Meanwhile, in the small skillet, cook onion over medium heat until tender, 5 minutes, adding spinach during the last 2 minutes of cooking. Cool.
• In large bowl, combine spinach and onions with ricotta, egg, seasoning, and zest.
• In another bowl, combine Alfredo sauce, water, and lemon juice.
• Spread 1/2 cup sauce mixture in bottom of baking dish. Top with half of the pasta, half of the spinach mixture and half of the remaining sauce; repeat.
• Cover with foil and bake until bubbly, about 30 minutes. Uncover and bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes, sprinkling with feta cheese during the last 5 minutes of cooking. Cool 10 minutes before serving.

BAKED PASTA WITH SPINACH

Steps:

• Cook pasta in rapidly boiling water until done.
• Meanwhile whisk cream cheese and milk until smooth.
• Add spinach and Parmesan cheese to cream cheese mixture--stir to combine.
• Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper (set aside).
• Drain cooked pasta and mix with spaghetti sauce.
• Layer half the pasta in a 9x13 baking dish---spread cream cheese mixture over pasta layer.
• Top with remaining pasta.
• Cover with foil and bake in a 350°F oven for 30 minutes.
• Remove foil sprinkle with mozzarella and bake an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

CREAMY ZUCCHINI AND SPINACH PASTA BAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 375°F.
• Cook pasta in large saucepan as directed on package, omitting salt.
• Meanwhile, cook and stir onions in large nonstick skillet on medium heat 3 to 4 min. or until crisp-tender. Add zucchini and mushrooms; cook 3 to 4 min. or until zucchini is crisp-tender, stirring frequently. Add half the spinach; cook 2 to 3 min. or just until wilted. Repeat with remaining spinach. Remove from heat.
• Drain pasta. Add to vegetable mixture in skillet along with the pasta sauce, ricotta, Italian seasoning and 1 cup mozzarella; mix lightly.
• Spoon into 13x9-inch baking dish sprayed with cooking spray; top with remaining mozzarella.
• Bake 20 to 25 min. or until casserole is heated through and mozzarella is melted.

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.