Awesome Penne Spinach Bake

"Spinach and pasta mixed with the most delicious cream sauce, topped of with a breadcrumb/cheese topping, then baked in the oven. Your gonna love this one! Prep time includes boiling the pasta."
 
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photo by Sharon123 photo by Sharon123
photo by Sharon123
photo by CountryLady photo by CountryLady
Ready In:
55mins
Ingredients:
16
Serves:
6
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ingredients

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directions

  • Set oven to 350 degrees.
  • Grease a 13" x 9" baking pan.
  • Cook the pasta only to firm-tender (don't overcook, as the pasta will cook more when baked in the oven) according to package directions (omit the salt in the water); drain, set aside.
  • In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over med-high heat.
  • Add in the chopped onion (if using) and the garlic; saute for 5 minutes.
  • Whisk in the flour, thyme, nutmeg and black pepper; cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
  • Gradually whisk in the half and half; cook for 4 minutes, until thick and bubbly.
  • Add in the grated Swiss cheese, and the Parmesan cheese; mix well over low heat, until the cheese has melted, and the sauce is hot and bubbly; remove the saucepan from the heat.
  • In a large bowl, combine the cream/cheese sauce, 1/2 cup of the remaining Swiss cheese (it is not necessery to add the remaining 1/2 cup cheese, you may omit if desired), chopped tomato, and the spinach; stir well.
  • Spoon the mixture into a prepared greased baking pan.
  • In a small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, melted butter and the Parmesan cheese.
  • Sprinkle the mixture over the casserole in the baking pan.
  • Bake for 30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
  • Note: this recipes calls for NO salt, as the grated Parmesan cheese produces enough salty taste, but if you do choose to add salt, add just a small amount (to taste with the cream sauce) at a time, otherwise it tends to get too salty.

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Reviews

  1. OMG !!!!! Thank you for this awesome recipe , I made it as posted except I left out the nutmeg because were not big fans of it ,I substituted oragano instead and the tomato I didn't have any but other than that stayed true to the recipe I did double it . And made one addition of my own I added about a pound and a half of Italian sausage to the sauce and it's to die for it got a thumbs up from my family. This recipe will be made lots of times at my house !<br/>Thanks So Much .......Wilma
     
  2. This was pretty easy to make, but I found it to be a bit bland... it just needed a little tang from something. When something has that much cream and cheese, it needs to knock my socks off. I cooked the sauce in the same pot as I used to cook the pasta. Then I skipped the extra bowl and just mixed everything in the pot before pouring into the baking dish. I used the whole tsp of thyme and 3 plum tomatoes, but it still needed something more.
     
  3. This was OK but not one of my favorites....hubby agreed it was just OK........don't think i would make it again.
     
  4. YUM!!! My husband took one bite and said "This is a keeper"! I had to make a few exchanges based on what I had on hand. For the chopped tomato I used one can of drained tomatoes w/ green chilies. For the cheese I used half mozzarella, half swiss and the parmesan. I added the optional onion, used whole milk, a little salt and kept everything else the same. I will definitely make this one again.
     
  5. Nice! I didn't have thyme (which was surprising) so I used sage, basil and oregano and the flavor was great. I also used the optional onions. I think I'll add mushrooms next time.
     
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