Spinach artichoke pasta bake
Everything you love about spinach artichoke dip, baked into a bubbling, cheesy dish of pasta you can make the night before.
- 50 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 4
- About $3.23 a serving
- 730 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 4 servings.
- 12 oz gluten-free pasta, short shape; regular pasta works too
- 10 oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed
- 1 can artichoke hearts, 14 oz, drained
- 4 oz cream cheese
- 1 cup milk
- ½ cup sour cream
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup grated parmesan
- 1½ cups shredded mozzarella, divided
From your pantry
- 1 tbsp salt, plus ½ tsp
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 730 calories, 29 g protein, 86 g carbs and 31 g fat, and costs about $3.23 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No milk? Half-and-half works.
- No sour cream? Plain Greek yogurt works.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
- No shredded mozzarella? Provolone slices work.
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 pasta 3 minutes less than the package says.
High heatTimer: 8 min
Dolly’s tip: It keeps cooking in the oven, so it should still be quite firm now.While it cooks, squeeze the spinach hard over the sink until no more water drips out, and the artichokes.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Dolly’s tip: Squeeze harder than feels necessary. Wet spinach makes a watery bake.the pasta. In the empty pot over low heat, the cream cheese, milk, sour cream and garlic until smooth, about 3 minutes.
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.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Low heatTimer: 3 min
Stir in the spinach, artichokes, parmesan, 1 cup mozzarella, the pepper and ½ teaspoon salt, then the pasta.
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.
Spread it in an 8x8-inch baking dish and scatter the rest of the mozzarella on top.
Dolly’s tip: To make it ahead, cover and chill it here for up to a day, then add 10 minutes to the bake.20 minutes, until bubbling at the edges and in spots.
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: 20 min
Let it sit 5 minutes before you scoop it out, so the sauce settles.
Timer: 5 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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