| Level: | Easy |
| Total: | 1 hr 20 min |
| Active: | 40 min |
| Yield: | 8 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 pound short pasta, such as penne or gemelli
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 7 tablespoons butter
- One 10-ounce container mushrooms, sliced
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- One 8-ounce bag fresh spinach
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup dry white wine or low-sodium vegetable broth
- 1 cup half-and-half
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- Low-sodium vegetable broth, as needed, for thinning
- 1 cup grated Parmesan
- 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the pasta in the boiling water, draining it about 2 minutes before the time on the package. It should still be a bit firm. Rinse it in cold water to stop the cooking process and set aside.
- Mix the ricotta with the parsley and lemon zest in a small bowl and set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with 1 tablespoon of the butter.
- In a large deep skillet over medium-high heat, melt 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cook until the mushrooms have given up their liquid, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the spinach and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until the spinach has wilted. Remove the vegetables and set aside, leaving any liquid in the skillet.
- Add 2 tablespoons of butter to the skillet. Pour in the wine and let it bubble up and reduce for 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. Add the half-and-half and cream, season with salt and pepper and cook, whisking, until it’s all combined. If it gets too thick as it cooks, you can thin it with a little vegetable broth. When the sauce looks good, remove it from the heat and stir in 3/4 cup of the Parmesan.
- Melt the remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a small pan. Remove from the heat and stir in the breadcrumbs and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan.
- In the buttered baking dish, stir together the pasta, vegetables and sauce. (Add a splash of broth if needed). Add spoonfuls of the ricotta mixture, pushing them a bit into the pasta. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the top of the pasta. Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and cook until the top is brown and the mixture is bubbling, about 20 minutes more.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 8 servings |
| Calories | 574 |
| Total Fat | 28 g |
| Saturated Fat | 17 g |
| Carbohydrates | 56 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 4 g |
| Sugar | 5 g |
| Protein | 21 g |
| Cholesterol | 82 mg |
| Sodium | 641 mg |
Reviews
My new favorite dish
This is one of my go to recipes for a delicious pasta dinner. I don’t like mushrooms so I leave those out. I have made adjustments to the recipe to make it fit our family’s preferences, but it’s also great written as is.
I usually love all of Ree’s recipe, but this one fell flat. I made it for my son who was home from college so I did not make it ahead. It was dry and tasteless, and I am a very experienced cook.
Made this with my granddaughter! Substituted wine for chicken broth and added grilled chicken. It makes a large amount, but it was delicious and my granddaughter had seconds!!
After toiling in the kitchen for 30 minutes, a hot flash set in. All bets were off. I pressed on and finished this laborious meal and then laid down on the sofa for a solid two hours to recover. It was bland. If this had a shorter prep time (like 4 minutes) it would’ve been worth it. But for 45 minutes of labor only to have a so-so meal, no bueno. Oh well. I will keep trying her recipes because most are delicious and involve abbreviated preparation.
Awesome
Double the sauce!!
Made it the first time with shredded chicken instead of mushrooms. May have added an onion too. Only complaint was the dish itself ended up a little dry. However, the small group of fresh-outa-college friends I was hosting didn’t mind. I plan on trying it again with double the sauce and looking forward to it!
Awesome recipe! made double the sauce and I added chicken absolutely wonderful made this casserole for neighbors who just had a new baby
I didn’t add the lemon zest, and I doubled the sauce as it was a little dry. Wonderful recipe though, will definitely make again and again!