Italian Pasta Bake

This recipe was originally shared as a guest post at My Favorite Finds

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We are a pasta loving household.  I personally am a fan of pasta because frankly, its cheap & that provides a great deal of benefit to my grocery budget.  But I also like the fact that I can make a hearty & filling meal with simply pasta & vegetables and no one misses the meat!  See, again, just more ways pasta stretches my dollars! :)

When I first saw this Tomato & Mozzarella Pasta al Forno recipe from Annie's Eats, I knew it would be one that would be a hit for us!  So I took her recipe, added a little spinach & we had dinner PLUS I had lunch the next day!  I'm a grocery budget stretching fool!

ITALIAN PASTA BAKE

INGREDIENTS:

• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 pound mini farfelle pasta
• 2 cans (14.5 ounces) diced Italian style tomatoes
• 3/4 cup fresh spinach leaves, roughly chopped
• mozzarella cheese
• Parmesan cheese

LETS COOK:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 9x13 inch casserole dish.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic & cook over medium heat ~ only about 30 seconds, making sure not to burn the garlic.
3. Add the tomatoes and simmer rapidly, stirring occasionally, until thickened, about 15 minutes or so
4. While the tomatoes are simmering, cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain pasta.
5. Toss the pasta with the tomatoes. Stir in the chopped spinach. Mix one large handful of mozzarella cheese in with the pasta, tomatoes & spinach.
6. Pour the pasta into the oiled dish. Top the pasta with more mozzarella cheese & Parmesan cheese, covering the pasta well.
7. Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted & starting to turn golden brown.

THIS RECIPE PROUDLY SHARED AT THESE FABULOUS PARTIES

 

       

If you like this recipe, I hope you'll stop by & check out some of my others! You can also stay up to date on my newest recipes by joining any of my social network communities!

Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Pinterest ~ Google+ ~ BlogLovin' ~ Instagram

 

Tweet