Baked Pasta With Spinach Lemon Cheese Recipes

QUICK AND EASY LEMON SPINACH PASTA

Steps:

• Fill large pot with water and add the whole lemon to the water. Remove zest from about 1/2 of the whole lemon and set the zest aside for the sauce. Add zested whole lemon to the water and bring the water with the lemon to a boil over high heat. Once boiling remove lemon and set aside to cool. Add salt to your water, then add pasta and cook to al dente according to package directions.
• Meanwhile, stir together the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Prepare your spinach and set aside. When lemon is cool enough to handle, cut in half and juice. Pour juice through a strainer in to a small bowl, to remove seeds and pulp. Set aside.
• When pasta is cooked, before draining, remove 1 cup of the pasta water and set aside. Drain pasta well and return to the pot. Add sauce mixture and spinach to the pot with the hot pasta and with tongs, toss well until the spinach is wilted and sauce is coating the pasta. Drizzle with reserved lemon juice and toss well. If pasta seems tight (clumpy/sticking together), add a bit of your reserved pasta water to the pasta and toss to loosen it up. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste. Serve with additional freshly grated Parmesan and more freshly ground pepper.

LEMON RICOTTA PASTA & SPINACH

Steps:

• In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package directions until al dente. Meanwhile, make the ricotta sauce.
• In a medium bowl, combine ricotta, olive oil, parmesan cheese, garlic, lemon zest and juice. Season with 1/4 tsp of salt and a good pinch of pepper.
• Stir until well combined, taste and make sure you're happy with the seasoning.
• In the last minute of the pasta's cooking time, reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water, then and add spinach to the pot. Stir well and push the leaves down to submerge them in water.
• After 1 minute, drain and return pasta and spinach to the same pot.
• Add the ricotta sauce and part of the reserved cooking water. Stir well to evenly coat the pasta in the sauce, add more cooking water as needed, you want a smooth and creamy texture.
• Serve immediately and garnish with grated or shaved Parmesan cheese, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and lemon wedges if desired (for extra freshly squeezed juice, but I leave it optional). Plus, I love adding a good pinch of red pepper flakes, you might give it a go. Enjoy!

BAKED PASTA WITH SPINACH, LEMON AND CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cook pasta in boiling water for 8 minutes or until almost al dente, omitting salt and fat.
• Remove from heat; stir in spinach. Let stand for 2 minutes or until spinach wilts. Drain pasta mixture well.
• Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; cook 15 minutes or until golden brown, stirring frequently.
• Weigh or lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Add flour and garlic; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly with a whisk.
• Gradually add milk and wine; cook 8 minutes or until sauce boils and thickens, stirring constantly.
• Stir in 3/4 cup of cheese, salt and rind. Remove from heat; stir in pepper.
• Add pasta mixture, and toss gently to coat.
• Spoon pasta mixture into a 13x9 inch-glass or ceramic baking dish coated with cooking spray.
• Sprinkle half of panko breadcrumbs over pasta, and top evenly with remaining 1/4 cup cheese.
• Sprinkle the remaining half of panko breadcrumbs over cheese.
• Bake at 350 for 50 minutes.

LEMON PASTA WITH SPINACH

Steps:

• Cook pasta according to package directions., Meanwhile, in a large skillet, saute garlic in butter until tender. Add the spinach, lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper; cook 2-3 minutes longer or until spinach is wilted., Drain pasta. Add to skillet; toss to coat.

CHEESY SPINACH BAKED PENNE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Mist a 2 to 2 1/2-quart rectangular or oval baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the penne and cook according to package directions for al dente.
• While the pasta cooks, heat the oil in a medium pot set over medium heat. Add the fennel seeds and garlic and cook until aromatic, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, basil sprig, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Simmer, lowering the heat if the sauce bubbles too vigorously, until the sauce has thickened slightly, the flavors have blended together and the raw tomato taste has cooked out, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat, discard the basil and season with additional salt and pepper. Pour over the cooked pasta and toss well to coat. Add the cubed mozzarella and transfer half the pasta to the prepared baking dish.
• Put the cottage cheese in the bowl of a food processor and process until smooth. Add the shredded mozzarella and Parmesan and pulse two to three times. Combine half the cottage cheese mixture with the spinach and mix to break up the spinach. Drop in spoonfuls over the pasta in the baking dish. Top the spinach layer with the rest of the pasta and then the remaining cottage cheese mixture.
• Bake until bubbly and golden brown on top, about 30 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes, and then scatter the torn basil over the top.

BEEF AND SPINACH LASAGNA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°. In a large skillet, cook beef and onion over medium heat until meat is no longer pink; crumble beef drain. Stir in the spaghetti sauce, garlic, basil and oregano. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 10 minutes. In a large bowl, mix together the spinach, ricotta and 1 cup mozzarella cheese., Spread 1-1/2 cups meat sauce into a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Top with 3 noodles. Spread 1-1/2 cups sauce to edges of noodles. Top with half of the spinach mixture. Repeat layers. Top with the remaining noodles, sauce and 1 cup mozzarella cheese., Cover and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover; bake until bubbly, 10-15 minutes longer. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting. If desired, top with minced fresh basil.