Julie Clark
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Pesto Pasta Bake
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Pesto pasta bake is the perfect Meatless Monday recipe that the whole family will love. An easy 30 minute dinner recipe.
Meatless Monday recipes can seem daunting, but with recipes like our one pot pasta and our rigatoni with tomato Parmesan sauce to fill in your menu plan, we know it’s going to turn into a favorite weeknight dinner day!
This pesto pasta bake is a simple pasta casserole recipe that has cooked pasta dressed in a basil pesto sauce, and topped with ricotta cheese, spinach, tomatoes, and lots of shredded mozzarella cheese.
This baked pasta recipe is a caprese lovers dream! If desired, when you serve your portion, drizzle balsamic glaze over your serving to really entice the senses!
What is pesto?
Pesto is a sauce that is traditionally made of fresh basil leaves, pine nuts, and Parmesan cheese, olive oil, and garlic.
The fresh basil is what gives basil pesto it’s green hue. It’s easily made by throwing everything into a food processor and blending. Make your own pesto, or use store-bought pesto. I love Classico brand or Costco’s basil pesto.
Ingredients For Pesto Pasta Bake
There are just seven ingredients for this easy pesto pasta bake.
- penne pasta or rotini, cooked
- ricotta cheese (or cottage cheese)
- jar of pesto sauce (or homemade sauce)
- fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
- grape tomatoes, halved
- mozzarella cheese, shredded
How To Make Pesto Pasta Bake
- Cook the noodles. For this pesto bake, cook the noodles to just under al dente. Remember, the noodles will continue to cook when it bakes.
- Once the pasta is cooked, toss into a bowl with pesto sauce. Stir to coat. Be generous with your sauce, you can also add in a tablespoon of olive oil if you like your casseroles a little on the moister side.
- Next, pour your pesto coated noodles into a well-greased baking dish and sprinkle over the spinach, tomatoes, and dollops of ricotta cheese on top.
- Finally, top your pesto pasta bake with shredded cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted.
Recipe Variations
- Get creative and add in mushrooms, small pieces of broccoli or black olives if you’re working on a pantry and fridge clean out.
- Gluten-free pasta or chickpea pasta makes this dish gluten free!
- Add cooked shrimp, diced chicken or shredded rotisserie chicken for added protein.
- Add a teaspoon of red pepper flakes for extra heat and flavor.
Storage Instructions
Place any leftovers of this pasta casserole into an airtight container and refrigerate up to three days.
To reheat this pasta casserole, you can portion out what will be eaten and either microwave it or place on an oven safe pan and bake at 350º Fahrenheit for about 15-20 minutes, or until it heats through.
Feel free to top leftovers with additional shredded cheese when reheating it. Fresh melted cheese is always best.
What to serve with pesto pasta bake?
This pasta casserole is pretty hearty. For a side dish, I would suggest potato leek soup or strawberry spinach salad and finish it off with a fresh fruit salad for dessert!
Other Recipes to Love
Pesto Pasta Bake
Pesto pasta bake is the perfect Meatless Monday recipe that the whole family will love. An easy 30 minute dinner recipe.
Servings 6
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Ingredients
- 8 ounces cooked penne or short noodles
- 6 ounces pesto sauce
- 1 cup fresh baby spinach (chopped)
- ¾ cup ricotta cheese
- 2 cups mozzarella cheese (shredded)
- diced tomatoes for garnishing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375º Fahrenheit. Spray a 9×13-inch casserole dish with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, toss together cooked pasta and pesto sauce. Spread into the prepared pan. 8 ounces cooked penne or short noodles, 6 ounces pesto sauce
- Layer spinach over the pasta and add dollops of ricotta cheese over the pasta. Top with shredded cheese. 1 cup fresh baby spinach, ¾ cup ricotta cheese, 2 cups mozzarella cheese
- Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted.
- Garnish with diced tomatoes if desired. diced tomatoes
Notes
- You can use low fat ricotta and low fat mozzarella if you’d like.
- Use gluten free noodles for a gluten free dinner!
- Refer to the article above for more tips and tricks. The calories shown are based on the recipe serving 6, with 1 serving being ⅙ of the pasta. Since different brands of ingredients have different nutritional information, the calories shown are just an estimate. **We are not dietitians and recommend you seek a nutritionist for exact nutritional information. **
Nutrition
Calories: 336kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 47mg | Sodium: 529mg | Potassium: 105mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 1430IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 305mg | Iron: 1mg
Hi! I’m going to make this dish and noticed that the recipe doesn’t include the tomatoes nor do the instructions. I’ll wing it this time but wanted to let you know. Take care 😊
This looks AMAZING!!! I will definitely try this at home.
Just can’t wait to try this and have them all..
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
Keep sharing:)