
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!
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
- 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!
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.
Colesyou pay $41.74 · 34% spare
$27.70
missing 3 items
WoolworthsBest choiceyou pay $43.04 · 31% spare
$29.82
missing 3 items
Aldiyou 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
$27.70
missing 3 items
you'll pay $41.74 · 34% of it spare
$29.82
missing 3 items
you'll pay $43.04 · 31% of it spare
$27.54
missing 5 items
you'll pay $42.56 · 35% of it spare
Buy at
Coles$15.52

tomato passata
$0.36/100g
need 700 gColes Organic Tomato Passata 700g$2.50
Coles$0.36/100g$2.50·
WoolworthsN/A·
AldiN/A

dried Italian mixed herbs
$0.55/10g
need 2 tspSpencers Mixed Herbs 70g$3.85closest match
Coles$0.55/10g$3.85·
Aldi$1.65/10g$3.29·
Woolworths$0.63/10g$4.40

sugar
$0.18/100g
need 4.3 gColes Simply Australian White Sugar 1kg$1.80closest match
Coles$0.18/100g$1.80·
Woolworths$0.18/100g$1.80·
Aldi$0.21/100g$2.09
Buy at
Woolworths$15.35

mozzarella
$24.00/1kg
need 250 g2 × La Casa Del Formaggio Fresh Mozzarella 125g$3.00closest match
Woolworths$24.00/1kg$3.00·
ColesN/A·
AldiN/A

onion powder
$0.47/10g
need 1 tspMasterFoods Onion Powder 138g$6.50
Woolworths$0.47/10g$6.50·
Coles$0.60/10g$2.50·
Aldi$0.53/10g$2.89

salt
$0.02/10g
need 11 gOlsson's Rock Sea Salt 1kg$1.95
Woolworths$0.02/10g$1.95·
Coles$0.40/100g$2.00·
Aldi$0.04/10g$2.99
Buy at
Aldi$23.81
ricotta
$9.04/1kg
need 500 g2 × Westacre Dairy Smooth Ricotta 375g 0.38kg$3.39
Aldi$9.04/1kg$3.39·
WoolworthsN/A·
ColesN/A
garlic cloves
$29.99/1kg
need 4 items4 × No Brand approx. 0.06kg per piece$1.80
Aldi$29.99/1kg$1.80·
Woolworths$1.08/100g$3.90·
Coles$33.00/1kg$1.98
extra virgin olive oil
$1.60/100ml
need 20 mlOh So Natural Organic Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil 500ml$7.99closest match
Aldi$1.60/100ml$7.99·
Woolworths$2.80/100ml$7.00·
Coles$2.80/100ml$7.00



