Baked penne with mushrooms and spinach
Penne baked in a creamy white sauce with browned mushrooms, spinach and plenty of mozzarella, a cozy make-ahead casserole that freezes well.
- 60 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Follow-a-recipe easy
- Serves 6
- About $2.09 a serving
- 590 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 1 lb penne
- 8 oz baby bella mushrooms, sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup butter
- 3 cups milk
- 5 oz baby spinach
- 2 cups shredded mozzarella, divided
- ½ cup grated parmesan, divided
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp salt, plus ¾ tsp
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 590 calories, 28 g protein, 72 g carbs and 21 g fat, and costs about $2.09 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No penne? Rigatoni or elbow macaroni works.
- No baby bella mushrooms? White mushrooms work.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
- No baby spinach? Kale or arugula works.
- No shredded mozzarella? Provolone slices work.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the oven to 375°F. Fill a large pot with water, add 1 tablespoon salt, cover and over high heat.
Preheat. Preheating means turning the oven on before you start, so it’s fully hot when the food goes in. Food that starts in a cold oven cooks unevenly and doesn’t brown the same.
How you’ll know: The oven beeps or its light clicks off, usually 10 to 15 minutes after you turn it on.
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
High heat
Cook the penne 3 minutes less than the package says, then . Slice the mushrooms and the garlic while it cooks.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
High heatTimer: 8 min
the butter in the empty pot over medium-high heat.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Medium-high heat
Add the mushrooms, ¼ teaspoon salt and the thyme and cook 6 to 7 minutes, until browned.
Medium-high heatTimer: 7 min
Add the garlic for 30 seconds.
Medium-high heat
Turn the heat to medium, sprinkle in the flour, and stir 1 minute.
Medium heatTimer: 1 min
Slowly pour in the milk, stirring the whole time, and cook 6 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until thick enough to coat a spoon.
Medium heatTimer: 7 min
Dolly’s tip: Go slowly with the first cup of milk and stir it smooth before adding more. That’s all it takes to stop lumps.Stir in the spinach until , then 1 cup mozzarella, ¼ cup parmesan, the pepper and ½ teaspoon salt. the penne.
Wilt. Wilting means cooking leafy greens just until they go soft and collapse. Greens shrink a lot, so a big pile of spinach becomes a small handful, and that’s normal.
How you’ll know: The leaves turn soft and deep green and slump into the pan, usually within a minute or two.
Fold. Folding means mixing gently by scooping from the bottom and turning it over the top, instead of stirring hard. It keeps light mixtures airy and soft things like berries or herbs in one piece.
How you’ll know: You use slow, wide strokes and stop as soon as there are no streaks left.
Low heat
Spread it in a 9x13-inch baking dish and scatter the rest of the mozzarella and parmesan on top.
Dolly’s tip: To freeze, cover well at this point and freeze up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge, then bake as written.20 to 25 minutes, until bubbling and in spots. Let it sit 5 minutes before serving.
Bake. Baking means cooking in the oven with dry heat all around the food. It cooks evenly from every side, so you can mostly leave it alone.
How you’ll know: It’s golden on top and passes the recipe’s check, like a clean toothpick or the right temperature.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 22 min
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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