My answer is yes. I know you are asking, "Does it taste as good as it looks?" .. YES! This is the first time I've ever cooked any kind of noodles that weren't lasagna, fettucini or spaghetti. I love pasta but don't know what to do with it most times. This recipe was pretty easy to do and had few ingredients, most of which I already had on hand. Plus I love baked recipes because some nights I just don't want to slave over a stove for an hour just to slave over the dishes for an hour.
I had no complaints or suggestions on this one from my husband either. He liked it as-is! I did add the spices right at the end because I realized I hadn't used them and in the Holman's Blog where I got the recipe from, it didn't say where to use or add them in. Next time I think I will add them with the sauce to be able to get more of the flavorings out of them.
Baked Ricotta Penne
1 box penne pasta
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 cup ricotta
1/4 cup red peppers, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pkg frozen spinach
1 jar marinara sauce
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 tsp basil
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease a 8x13 glass dish. Boil pasta until al dente (about 8 minutes). Meanwhile, heat ground beef on med-high heat in large skillet. After about 8 minutes, add garlic, red peppers, seasonings and marinara sauce and reduce heat to low. Add ricotta and stir until melted and combined. Add spinach and cook another 5-7 minutes.
Drain pasta. Add sauce and pasta to baking dish and combine well until pasta is coated. Top with mozzarella cheese and bake 20-30 minutes or until cheese is melted
Kelly -- glad you liked the recipe, sorry mine didn't mention when to add the spices, I'm getting better as I go but it can be hard to translate cooking to writing it out sometimes. I do add the spices to the sauce when I add the ricotta.
ReplyDeleteYeah I do that too. I forget small things (to me) that make a huge difference .. like adding water to something. Seems simple but if you don't it will dry out. I read through the entire thing before making it too and didn't even realize so no worries. :)
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