Description
A creamy and cheesy spinach and artichoke pasta bake featuring rigatoni tossed in a luscious sauce made from cream cheese, pecorino, mozzarella, and double cream, baked to golden perfection.
Ingredients
Scale
Pasta and Sauce
- 350 g rigatoni pasta (dry weight)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium brown onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or pressed
- 170 g baby spinach (about 5½ cups)
- 1 can (390 g) artichoke hearts, drained weight 240 g, roughly chopped
- 280 g tub light cream cheese
- 60 g pecorino cheese, finely grated (¼ cup)
- 100 ml double cream (½ cup)
- 125 g fresh mozzarella cheese, grated (just over half an 8oz ball)
- ½ teaspoon sea salt, divided
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Prepare the aromatics: Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add the finely chopped onion with a pinch of sea salt and cook for about 15 minutes until translucent and springy.
- Add garlic: Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute to release its aroma.
- Cook pasta: Boil the rigatoni according to package instructions minus 1 minute for al dente texture. Reserve half a cup of pasta water before draining.
- Wilt spinach and combine artichokes: Add baby spinach to the onion mixture and cook until slightly wilted. Stir in the chopped artichokes and cook for 2 minutes.
- Create sauce base: Add all the cream cheese to the pan and stir until melted into the spinach mixture. Then add ¾ of the grated pecorino and stir until melted.
- Add cream and adjust sauce consistency: Slowly pour in double cream while stirring, then gradually add reserved pasta water to achieve desired sauce consistency.
- Season sauce: Add remaining ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper to the sauce and mix well.
- Toss pasta with sauce: Add drained pasta to the sauté pan and toss gently to coat all pasta in the sauce.
- Prepare to bake: Transfer pasta mixture into a large casserole dish. Sprinkle grated mozzarella and the remaining pecorino cheese evenly over the top.
- Bake: Cover the casserole dish with foil and bake at 180°C (350°F) for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes until the cheese is golden and bubbling.
- Rest and serve: Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving.
Notes
- Use rigatoni or any short pasta like penne or ziti for best results.
- Light cream cheese is used here; substitute with full fat cream cheese but adjust nutrition accordingly.
- The casserole dish is approximately 30cm x 20cm x 6.5cm for adequate volume.
- Nutritional information is approximate and calculated via an online tool.
- For accuracy, weigh ingredients using digital scales rather than relying on volume measurements.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 450 kcal
- Sugar: 4 g
- Sodium: 550 mg
- Fat: 25 g
- Saturated Fat: 12 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 45 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 18 g
- Cholesterol: 60 mg
