Spinach & Ricotta Pasta Bake

Recipe from Nagi & Dozer - RecipeTin Eats · original post

A lazy meal for midweek that tastes like spinach and ricotta stuffed shells or cannelloni - but without all the labour! Feel free to use your favourite store bought pasta sauce if you prefer. Reheats well and freezes well too!

Serves 6 55 min 32g proteinKid-friendly
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Ingredients

  • penne pasta300 g
  • mozzarella — shredded250 g
  • ricotta500 g
  • parmesan — grated50 g
  • garlic cloves — minced4 ea
  • frozen chopped spinach — thawed and squeezed dry350 g
  • extra virgin olive oil — 1 tbsp20 ml
  • tomato passata700 g
  • onion powder1 tsp
  • garlic powder1 tsp
  • dried Italian mixed herbs2 tsp
  • chilli flakes0.5 tsp
  • sugar — 1 tsp4.3 g
  • salt — 1 ¾ tsp11 g

Method

  1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C.
  2. 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.
  3. Cook pasta for time per packet MINUS 1 minute.
  4. SCOOP OUT 1 mugful pasta cooking water, drain and set aside.
  5. Ricotta Mixture - Mix Ricotta Mixture ingredients in a very large bowl. Use a splash of pasta cooking water if needed to make it creamy.
  6. Add pasta and stir to combine. Transfer to a heatproof baking dish.
  7. Top with Pasta Sauce, top with cheese. Loosely cover with foil.
  8. Bake for 25 minutes, then remove the cover and bake for a further 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
  9. Serve while hot and fresh!

Cooking for a different diet?

Swaps that keep this dish what it is. The prices on this page are for the recipe as written.

  • Vegetarian

    • 50 g Vegetarian hard cheese instead of parmesan

    Nothing changes in the cooking.

  • Gluten-free

    • 300 g Gluten-free penne instead of penne pasta

    Boil the gluten-free penne for 2 minutes less than the packet says, as it keeps softening in the bake and can turn mushy.

Swaps are suggestions — check labels if you are cooking for an allergy.

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What it costs, and where to buy it

Each item at whichever of your shops sells it cheapest.

Shops to compare

List price at each shop

  • Missing items

    These totals leave part of the list out, so a lower one isn't a cheaper shop.

  • Coles

    you pay $41.74 · 34% spare

    $27.70

    missing 3 items

  • WoolworthsBest choice

    you pay $43.04 · 31% spare

    $29.82

    missing 3 items

  • Aldi

    you pay $42.56 · 35% spare

    $27.54

    missing 5 items

$3.99a serve

from $3.99 a serve at Coles · 11 of 14 ingredients priced

About $23.93 of ingredients used for 6 serves.

$54.68 across 3 shops · all 14 items priced · $1.00 more for bigger packs, 32% spare for later

Coles

$27.70

missing 3 items

you'll pay $41.74 · 34% of it spare

WoolworthsBest choice

$29.82

missing 3 items

you'll pay $43.04 · 31% of it spare

Aldi

$27.54

missing 5 items

you'll pay $42.56 · 35% of it spare

Buy at Coles$15.52

parmesan

$36.00/1kg

need 50 gPerfect Italiano Parmesan Shaved 125g$4.50closest match

ColesColes$36.00/1kg$4.50·WoolworthsWoolworths$36.00/1kg$4.50·AldiAldiN/A

tomato passata

$0.36/100g

need 700 gColes Organic Tomato Passata 700g$2.50

ColesColes$0.36/100g$2.50·WoolworthsWoolworthsN/A·AldiAldiN/A

garlic powder

$0.38/10g

need 1 tspColes Garlic Powder 63g$2.40

ColesColes$0.38/10g$2.40·WoolworthsWoolworths$0.40/10g$2.00·AldiAldiN/A

dried Italian mixed herbs

$0.55/10g

need 2 tspSpencers Mixed Herbs 70g$3.85closest match

ColesColes$0.55/10g$3.85·AldiAldi$1.65/10g$3.29·WoolworthsWoolworths$0.63/10g$4.40

Buy at Woolworths$15.35

Buy at Aldi$23.81