Three Cheese Spinach Pasta Bake

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Barilla, but opinions are my own.

Three Cheese Spinach Pasta Bake is a tasty, cheesy veggie-filled baked pasta dish that the whole family will enjoy happily around the dinner table.  It is quick and easy to make, can be made ahead and leftovers reheat perfectly! 

As we strive to maintain a connection and grow with our kids, we find that enjoying dinners together is so important. While we frequently eat together, it is not often that we all eat the same thing, which means I am in the kitchen making custom requests instead of enjoying our together time.  So my quest is often to find something that everybody likes.  Enter this Three Cheese Spinach Pasta Bake.  Made with a delicious combination of pasta, three cheeses, tomato sauce and spinach, it is so simple and tasty and loved by my entire family! 

Not only is this Three Cheese Spinach Pasta Bake a crowd pleaser at our dinner table, but it is a great recipe to get the kids involved in the kitchen!  With the assistance of my trusty sous chef Adam, we are able to quickly whip it together while Greta naps and store it in the fridge until dinner time. He gets so excited to help and looks forward to eating what we made together.  When Adam helps me prepare meals, dinner time is more fun because he is excited to share the fruits of his labors (and is also more likely to try what he made!)

Fortunately Greta is at an age where she thinks that Adam walks on water, so his joy and excitement has her grinning from ear to ear, which means everybody is smiling and laughing.  Sometimes it’s just the little things!

Three Cheese Spinach Pasta Bake

 

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Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 package (16 ounces) medium-shaped pasta
• 1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 jar (24 ounces) pasta sauce, any variety (I used Barilla Tomato & Basil)
• 1 cup low fat ricotta cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• ¾ cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• crushed red pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 13x9-inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Cook pasta to al dente according to package directions. Drain and return to the pasta pot. Add spinach and stir.
3. Add pasta sauce, ricotta, ½ cup mozzarella cheese, ½ cup Parmesan cheese and garlic powder to the pasta pot and stir until combined.
4. Pour into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle top with crushed red pepper, as desired.
5. Bake for 30 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.

Notes

Make ahead: Skip preheating the oven, prepare through step 4, cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to bake. Then preheat and bake according to the above directions.

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Now that I’ve shared a little bit about our family mealtimes, it’s your turn!  Barilla is encouraging you to share how you #ShareTheTable with your family. For every post on social media using the #ShareTheTable hashtag, Barilla will donate 10 meals to Feeding America.  Feeding America is the nation’s largest organization dedicated to fighting domestic hunger through a network of food banks, and Barilla supports that goal.  For a little meal time inspiration, visit ShareTheTable.com and watch the Share The Table launch video to learn more about the program!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Barilla. For every post using #ShareTheTable from now until 4/30/14, Barilla will donate a monetary equivalent of ten meals ($1.11) to Feeding America®, up to 1 million meals. Barilla will donate a maximum of $110,000.  One dollar helps provide 9 meals secured by Feeding America® on behalf of local member food banks.