Here’s a really simple pasta bake that doesn’t take hundreds of pots and pans to make and looks impressive when served at the dinner table. A garlicky, cheesy pasta bake with spinach and refreshing bursts of ripe cherry tomatoes.
Here’s how to make it.
Cherry tomato, spinach and garlic mozzarella pasta bake
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
Deliciously stringy, garlicy, cheesy pasta bake.
Author: Emily Leary
Recipe type: Pasta meals
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
- 400g (14 oz) dried rigatoni
- 350g (12.5 oz) cherry tomatoes (a small box)
- 200g (7 oz) frozen spinach (1½ handfuls)
- 2 tsp mince garlic
- 1-2 tsp chilli flakes
- 2-3 tbsp olive oil
- 250g (9 oz) fresh mozzarella (1 large pack)
- 100g (3.5 oz) cheddar (a couple of handfuls)
- seasoning to taste
- a oven proof casserole dish or roasting tray
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C / 355F.
- Boil the pasta in plenty of salted, boiling water until al dente.
- Grease the oven dish with a little olive oil and add the drained pasta.
- Blast the spinach in the microwave for a couple of minutes until fully defrosted, then press in a sieve or colander to remove the excess moisture and add to the dish.
- Add the cherry tomatoes whole but squeezed as they go in to release the juice, then tear the mozzarella into inch pieces and add that too.
- Add the garlic and chilli flakes, then drizzle with the remaining olive oil and toss gently to evenly distribute the ingredients and season well with salt and pepper.
- Top with the grated cheddar.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until bubbling and golden in places.
- Serve hot while all the cheese is deliciously stringy - be careful, the tomatoes will be VERY hot inside.
Enjoy!
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I made this tonight, but for some reason the pasta was very dry. I cooked them for 7-9 minutes, so I don’t know if that was considered “al dente” or not. I followed the recipe to a t, but can’t figure out what went wrong. My husband said it needed either more cheese, or some kind of sauce to make it more creamier. Other than that, great flavor!!
Hi – sorry to hear that and I’m glad you enjoyed the flavour. I would say it typically takes about 10 minutes for most pasta to get to the al dente stage, so it sounds yours *may* have been a little undercooked. It definitely isn’t a saucy type pasta dish, but if you prefer your pasta that way, I would say try stirring a little cream cheese and a splash of milk. Thanks!
Made this tonight. Delicious – thank you :)
Pasta bake is a big favourite here! Would love to try this some day :D
Doing this right now. Smells awesome and I think it’ll be delicious!
I love a good pasta bake and you can’t beat cherry tomatoes and mozzarella with pasta. Yummy! I’m sure the kids would love this.
Oh I must try this out. #recipeoftheweek
That looks AMAZING.
I think I’ll be trying this next week. Thank you
Wow this si what I’m having for tea tonight
There is something so satisfying about a pasta bake. I can almost smell the garlic, melted cheeses and spinach in your post. Your photography always makes food look unbelievably tempting. Have pinned to eat next week :-)
this looks delish! need to make this for my boys sometime, even fussy Wilf would gobble this down! x
Wow that looks delicious!! I think that’s a recipe that everyone in our family would enjoy eating!! Thank you for sharing!
Lush! Am pinning this recipe
Oh my, that looks lush!
Great recipe Emily! I’m always up for some easy meals ;-)
this is exactly what my husband would eat, I will try this one out yummy!
For some unknown reason I never make a pasta bake but now I will as this looks yummy.
I love all of these ingredients! This sounds soooo yummy :-) x
How lovely! You’ve got some of my favourite ingredients there…I need to come for dinner! x
I could just eat that right now x x
Scrummy! That looks delicious and definitely something that would be enjoyed by all of my family. So easy to make too!
amazing – just up my street apart from the tomatoes but i could swap for peppers instead maybe. yummy food and i ahve pinned this x
Looks gorgeous and such a fabulously easy family meal. My daughter loves pasta bakes, cherry tomatoes and this sort of dish is generally a great way to sneak spinach into her. On my list for midweek dinners.