Spinach Ricotta Pasta Bake is made with creamy ricotta and loads of spinach stirred through pasta, topped with pasta sauce, cheese and then baked until bubbly and golden. It tastes like a Spinach and Ricotta stuffed shells – but way faster to make!
Fabulous lazy Monday meal – made from scratch, using my cheeky “shake and pour” shortcut pasta sauce!
Spinach and Ricotta
Spinach and ricotta. We stuff things with it (Cannelloni, Rotolo, shells!), we layer things with it, we roll it up in puff pastry and we wrap it in pastry.
So why don’t we stir it through pasta bakes?
This is a lazy Monday meal I’ve been making for years. I know it’s a little different, but it really is tasty. It tastes like spinach and ricotta cannelloni or stuffed shells – but without the labour. 🙌🏻
Look at this pile of gooey, juicy deliciousness….no dry ricotta in MY pasta bakes!
Shake and pour pasta sauce!
Because this is a lazy meal, I make this with my shortcut homemade pasta sauce. It’s a shortcut recipe because I don’t cook it on the stove with sautéed onions and garlic like I ordinarily do. All I do is add pasta sauce flavourings right into a bottle of tomato passata, shake then pour it over the pasta bake.
To compensate for skipping the sautéed garlic and onions, I add extra flavours into the sauce. 🙂
Sub for tomato passata?
Tomato passata is pureed strained raw tomatoes, unflavoured. It’s sold in tall bottles in the pasta section of most supermarkets in Australia nowadays, and costs around the same as canned tomato. If you’re in the US or Canada, I’ve seen it at Walmart and here are a couple of Amazon – Mutti (excellent Italian brand I use) and Cento (a good value one). Or sub with what you know as tomato sauce.
What goes in Spinach Ricotta Pasta Bake
Here’s a snapshot of the ingredients. For convenience, I use frozen spinach here but fresh can be used in a cinch.
As for the ricotta, any type will work here. Some are creamier and softer than others which makes it easy to mix into the pasta.
If yours is the thicker more crumbly type, it’s an easy fix – just stir through some of the pasta cooking water to loosen it up. The starch in the pasta cooking water will make the ricotta mixture bind better than using normal water or milk to loosen the mixture. The same effect as tossing pasta through pasta sauces right before serving – it’s called emulsifying the sauce (what a show off!😂).
This really does taste like a Spinach and Ricotta Cannelloni* – without the fiddly stuffing of the cannelloni tubes. Because as much as we all love eating those stuffed tubes of pasta smothered in tomato sauce and molten cheese, nobody’s jumping off the couch to offer to help stuff them. Right?? 😂
So – are you feeling lazy today too? -Nagi x
* For those of you in the US & Canada – cannelloni is basically the same as manicotti, except the tubes are slightly smaller and smooth, no ridges. Just as tasty!
All things Spinach and Ricotta!
Baked Spinach and Ricotta Rotolo – and it tastes as spectacular as it looks!
And more big juicy pasta bakes
Cheeseburger Casserole (Homemade Hamburger Helper) – OK, so it’s not baked, but it looks like a pasta bake!
Chili Mac and Cheese – ditto for this one 🙂
Watch how to make it
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Spinach & Ricotta Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 300g / 10 oz ziti pasta, uncooked, or other short pasta of choice
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese , shredded (or more! For topping)
Ricotta Mixture
- 1 lb / 500 g ricotta (Note 1)
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese , grated
- 2 garlic cloves , crushed
- 350g / 12oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and excess liquid pressed out
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese , shredded
- 3/4 tsp salt & pepper
Shortcut Pasta Sauce
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 700g / 24oz tomato passata (1 standard 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 taste (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 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!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Originally published September 2015, updated April 2019 with fresh new photos, new writing, new video and most importantly, Life of Dozer section added!
Life of Dozer
Reaping the rewards of the Easter Egg Hunt!
PS Don’t worry, it’s a dog friendly Easter egg!
Thank you for just being you! Your recipes are always my first “go tos”. And I love seeing Dozer. You are great!
Hi Nagi and Dozer! Loved those bunny pics of both of you!
Thanks for another wonderful recipe that I want to make. I’ve never heard of Passata, but will look for it.
I’m intrigued by the idea because, for some reason, canned tomato sause/paste, etc., can taste too acidic and my Italian father-in-law explained how to adjust that with baking soda and sugar, but I’m not always confident in getting it right. But Passata may be different, and I can’t wait to try the delicious recipe — really perfect for a meatless day!
Nadine
This recipe looks so yummy! I am reminded I have not had anything like it in some time. That will change soon. Although I have never met a variety of pasta I did not like, I am going to mix the sauce, spinach, and ricotta with “miracle noodles” this time because they are calorie free and have the same relative “mouth feel” as pasta.
Hi Naggi-Great feature and recipe as usual. I haven’t tried this yet but plan on it soon. But I have a question about software-what do you use to caption pictures, that is how do you put comments or words or whatever on a picture that you have taken? Very curious.
This was good but the bottom of my pan was super watery. Next time I will look for the sauce version of the tomatoes instead of the diced tomatoes.
I made the pizzaiola sauce topping from all fresh ingredients, and added a glass of white wine to it, the spinach leaves were ripped up before being stirred into the ricotta mix, and the cheese topping was made from a miture of 3 different grated cheeses, came out superb!
Just made this, tasted amazing!!! Eating this while your chickpea curry bubbles away on the stove for tomorrow’s dinner… Really, Nagi, my cooking life was stuck in a rut, but since I stumbled upon your site, the spark has been reignited:-)
That’s so fantastic Willem, I’m so glad you’re enjoying being in the kitchen ❤️
So easy and super tasty!!
Thanks for letting me know what you think Corrine!
Delicious And easy!
I’m so glad you love it Chantelle!
OMG, out of this world amazing! I used six items from freezer, fridge, store cupboard that needed using up and made a few adjustments according to what I had and the result was a revelation. Divine!
Wahoo!!! I love it when I can use up things in my cupboard to make something amazing!
Hi. It’s exactly the recipe that I’ve been looking for, except for one thing… I need to buy a casserole dish (all I have are 9×9 or 13×9 PANS. What size casserole dish should I buy? Thanks so much! Lilli
Hi Lilli, 13 x 9 is the perfect size for a baking dish!
Nagi,
Wow I’ve cooked this a few times now and it’s Devine! Thanks for this fine recipe that all 6 of us love ❤️
I love hearing that! WHOOT! N x
This was our dinner tonight!! So easy to make and wow, it is so incredibly rich and creamy!! Perfect for such a chilly rainy evening! Thank you yet again, Nagi! 👍☺️
For many years I’ve made a similar dish. For this one I would use less milk, maybe 1/2 cup and add an egg to the ricotta cheese mixture. Also cook pasta for half time as called for on the package otherwise you have mushy pasta after it bakes. Also you need at least 1 cut shredded mozzarella cheese for the ricotta mixture and then more to top the pasta.
Hi, Should the spinach is supposed be fresh or frozen? And how much cheese should I sprinkle on top?
Hi Paula! I use fresh spinach 🙂 Use as much cheese as you want! Enough to cover the top with a light single layer, about 1 handful is usually enough! N x
Just made this and it was delicious! Using only leftovers, I didn’t have any ricotta cheese so I substituted with Creme fraiche (kind of a thicker creme). Very rich and tasty, thank you for the inspiration!
Fantastic! So pleased to hear that Jen, thank you for letting me know! N xx
Can I make the dish the night before and cook or heat it the next day?
Hi Gloria! If you can, I’d cook the pasta and keep it separate from everything else, then put it together just before baking. Otherwise you can absolutely reheat – it is just a bit better if made fresh, as with all pasta bakes! 🙂
I’m going to do that. I’ll put it all together tomorrow before baking
This worked very well texture and tomato sauce flavour. what do you think about lifting the flavour of the ricotta mix a little? Maybe I could use a better quality ricotta? add basil or parsley to the ricotta? Or maybe use fresh as opposed to frozen? Made heaps.
Hi Jenny! Good ricotta definitely makes a difference to flavour 🙂 An easy way to add more flavour is adding fresh basil or dried herbs OR parmesan. Parmesan is a great flavour addition into savoury sauces, just mix it into the tomato 🙂
Hey Nagi,
Love your stuff!! Do you think I could substitute spinach with silverbeet as we have heaps in the garden at the moment? I think I’ll risk it and try tonight.
Nycolle
DEFINTATELY!!!!
Ok, so I’ve tried it twice now! Made it with gluten free pasta and silver beet both times. First time cooked it and ate it straight away – delicious and great for leftovers lunch the next day because it microwaved really well at work!
Then tried it another week and freezing it. Didn’t go so well as it didn’t reheat as well as I hoped. Not sure why. Maybe because I didn’t reheat in the oven again only in the microwave?
But would definitely make it again. So easy and yum! 😀
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Nycolle! When you froze it, did you ensure it was in an airtight container? I think that’s a problem many people have, if it’s not airtight then it is actually drying out in the freezer 🙁 Microwave actually adds moisture back into food better than the oven because it sweats as it reheats, so it does sound like it dried out in the freezer – boo to that!
Yes, that would probably be it. Think I just wrapped glad wrap over it in the baking dish. Never mind. Have had any other successful cooking adventures from your recipes – thank you! 🙂
Hi Nagi, I want to subscribe to your daily recipes via email. Somehow I accidentally unscripted sometime ago. I really miss your great daily recipes. How can I get back on your mailing list?
Arlene
Hi Arlene! Here’s the link to join my mail list! N x -> http://eepurl.com/4kKKD