Baked Penne with Spinach, Ricotta & Fontina
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This easy vegetarian pasta bake gives you all the flavor of classic spinach and cheese cannelloni without the fuss.
This vegetarian pasta bake is a quick and easy riff on classic spinach and ricotta cannelloni. Instead of stuffing traditional pasta shells, I toss penne pasta in a creamy sauce made with spinach, basil, and ricotta. After topping the dish with two flavorful cheeses, I bake it until golden and bubbly. To ensure a smooth and creamy texture, I add mascarpone (or cream cheese) to the sauce, which eliminates any potential graininess that can sometimes occur with ricotta-based sauces. While the pasta bakes, I usually toss a big Italian salad to complete the meal.
you’ll need to make Baked penne with spinach, ricotta & fontina
how to make Baked penne with spinach, ricotta & fontina
To begin, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the penne. Cook until al dente, about 9 minutes. The pasta will continue to cook in the oven, so you want it a bit underdone.
Drain the pasta, then place it back in the pan and set aside.
Meanwhile, drain the spinach and squeeze as dry as possible. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade, combine the dry spinach, basil, ricotta, mascarpone (or cream cheese), half-and-half cream, 1 cup fontina, 3 tablespoons Parmigiano Reggiano, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Process until puréed.
Add the spinach mixture to the pasta.
Stir to combine.
Transfer to a baking dish.
Top with the remaining fontina and Pecorino Romano cheese.
Bake until the pasta is bubbling and the top is golden in spots, about 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes, then serve.
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Baked Penne with Spinach, Ricotta & Fontina
This easy vegetarian pasta bake gives you all the flavor of classic spinach and cheese cannelloni without the fuss.
Ingredients
- 1 pound penne
- 1 (10-oz) package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
- ½ cup packed basil leaves, roughly chopped
- 1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
- 4 oz (½ cup) mascarpone cheese (or cream cheese)
- 2 cups half-and-half
- 6 oz (2 cups) grated fontina or whole milk mozzarella, divided
- 5 tablespoons finely grated Pecorino Romano (or Parmigiano Reggiano), divided
- 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and set an oven rack in the middle position. Lightly oil a 9 x 13-inch ceramic baking dish.
- Cook the penne in boiling salted water until al dente, about 9 minutes. (It will cook more in the oven so you don’t want it completely cooked.) Drain and rinse under cold water, then place the pasta back in the pan and set aside.
- In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the steel blade, combine the spinach, basil, ricotta, mascarpone (or cream cheese), half-and-half, 1 cup of the fontina (or mozzarella), 3 tablespoons of the Pecorino Romano (or Parmigiano Reggiano), garlic, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Process until puréed.
- Add the spinach mixture to the pasta and stir to combine. Transfer to the prepared baking dish. Top with the remaining fontina and Parmigiano Reggiano. Bake until the pasta is bubbling and the top is golden in spots, about 20 minutes. Let cool for a few minutes, then serve.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 692
- Fat: 34 g
- Saturated fat: 20 g
- Carbohydrates: 65 g
- Sugar: 7 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 31 g
- Sodium: 956 mg
- Cholesterol: 112 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Hi Jen
Hope you and your family are well. Would heavy cream work in here? If yes, how much?
Thanks
Janelle
Hi Janelle, what are you looking to substitute with the heavy cream?
Hi Jen,
The half and half
Sure — it will be very rich, but it will work. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Jenn,
Would it be possible to make the spinach mixture in the morning and refrigerate until ready to make the pasta that evening? Thank you,
Trish
Definitely! Hope you enjoy. 🙂
Hi Jen,
Would part skim ricotta and 1/3less cream cheese work here? Thank you!!
Hi Janelle, I haven’t tried this with either of those tweaks, but I think it should work. Please LMK how it turns out if you make it!
What is the best way to serve it as first course to guests so it looks pretty? Ideas? Thanks—love your recipes! I’ve made quite a few, especially the crack nuts which my family & guests LOVE !
Hi Ellen, so glad you like the recipes! You could put individual servings of this into ramekins. Not only would it make it look nice, but because it’s a starter it would be a nice way to limit the portion size.
Can this be frozen?
This dish has a lot of dairy so I’ve hesitated to tell people that it’s okay to freeze. However, a few readers have commented that they’ve baked and frozen it and have been happy with the results.
Made this tonight and it was a hit with my family. I heated up someMarinara sauce on the side as my hubby wasn’t convinced it would be good without tomatoes
It was! And it was good with a bit of marina on the side too. It got a bit dry for the folks wanting seconds so I agree with the previous comment that a bit more half n half would solve this. Yummy. Thanks!
My family and friends love this recipe!! I prepare it the day before and just before cooking I add more half and half….This is what works for me so it doesn’t turn out dry….I also cover it for the first half of baking….This pasta is addicting!!!
Can you suggest something that could be substituted for the ricotta? My daughter doesn’t like it.
Hi Mary, Cottage cheese would work well. Because the texture is a bit different, I’d suggest buying small curd cottage cheese or, if you buy large curd, blending it a little. Hope that helps!
This recipe was a great success! I live in Amsterdam and was doubting about the half-and-half, so I used cream instead. Do you have a suggestion what to use instead?
Cheers
Bernardine
Glad you liked it, Bernadine! I’ve only made this with half and half but I think it would work if you used half cream and half milk when you make it again.
Deeeeelicious! Minor adjustments, for those who are curious: I used fresh spinach (takes 1 minute to pan-cook) instead of frozen, substituted mozzarella for ricotta because we like it better, and used a bit higher pasta-to-sauce ratio. (To be exact: I cooked the whole pound of pasta intending only to use half for this purpose, and made half the sauce. Once combined, I decided to use 2/3 of cooked pasta, and that turned out perfect for us.) Jen’s recipes are the best!!
I’ve made this twice….the first time was a few years ago and everything turned out fine….second time I took this to a friend’s house and it was dry….I made it yesterday and will bake it today…I will use your suggestion of covering it for at least half the cooking time….do you think I should add more half & half before cooking it, just to be sure? I will be cooking it at 350…
Thanks for your help….I really want this to turn out as most of my guests are very familiar with your name around my house!! LOL!
I wanted simple, easy to handle desserts so I made your lemon squares, pecan pie squares & cheesecake squares, in advance….They all froze well….I got specific requests to make these!! Your name is common now among my tennis friends and they call ahead and let me know what recipe of yours they want me to bring!!
Hi Wendy, so glad you enjoy the recipes (and I’m flattered that your friends and family know my name)! 🙂 And while I don’t think adding a bit of half and half before baking it can hurt, if you keep it covered with foil for half the baking time, it may not be necessary. Hope that helps and that everyone enjoys!
Hi Jen, I have a substitution question. I just used up all the fresh basil I bought at the farmers market to make your walnut kale pesto. Our family absolutely loved it! I want to make this pasta dish but since I’m out of basil do you think I could use some of the walnut kale pesto instead without it making a huge difference? If you think this substitution would work, how much pesto would you recommend to replace the 1/2 cup of basil in this recipe? Thanks in advance!
Hi Bry, Glad you enjoyed the pesto! Yes, I think you could get away with using it in this penne. I’d suggest 2 to 3 tablespoons. Please LMK how it turns out!
Hi Jen, we did end up making this recipe and subbed 1/4 cup of the pesto for the basil, as we love basil here. The cheese sauce was amazing out of the food processor, my son could not stop tasting it. Once cooked with the pasta it was yummy, but not quite as flavourful as hoped. Very good, but next time I think we will replace the noodles with cauliflower for a slightly lighter alternative. The sauce would probably be great with zoodles as well (although the kale walnut pesto was amazing on it’s own with the zoodles). Thanks for the reply, we appreciate all of your time spent on your recipes and answering questions!