Baked pasta with sun-dried tomato pesto and ricotta cheese

Pasta is great in itself but a baked pasta dish is quite exciting too! You can really throw in whatever you have in your refrigerator into a baking dish with some pasta, sauce and cheese and it will taste good. In this recipe, I have combined flavors that work really well together - tanginess from the pesto, creaminess and subtle sweetness from the ricotta and earthy flavors from vegetables like mushrooms and spinach. This is a great week-night dinner for a family and can also be scaled up and made in a big baking dish when hosting a dinner party. I have used sun-dried tomato pesto but basil pesto would taste equally good. Give this a go and let me know how you and your family enjoy it!

Serves: 4, Prep. time: 20 minutes, Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. pasta (any shape you like)

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion

• 1 cup roughly chopped spinach

• 1 cup roughly chopped mushrooms

• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomato pesto

• 3/4 cup ricotta cheese + 3 tbsp for topping

• salt and crushed black pepper

• 1/2 cup marinara sauce

• 1/2 cup shredded cheese (mozzarella, cheddar, Monterey jack are all okay)

• 8-10 cherry tomatoes

• fresh basil leaves for garnish

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions until al dente.

2. In a pan, heat the oil and add the onions. Stir fry for 2 minutes till onions turn translucent. Then add the mushrooms and cook for 2 more minutes. Next, add the spinach leaves and stir for 1 additional minute.

3. Add 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp crushed black pepper to season the veggies.

4. Add the pesto and stir till it is well mixed with the vegetables.

5. Turn heat off and stir in the ricotta cheese. Set this pan aside.

6. Pre-heat oven to 350F or 180C.

7. In a 9" x 9" baking pan, add the marinara sauce at the bottom. This is just to keep everything moist. Instead of marinara sauce, you can also dilute 3 tbsp pesto in 1/2 cup of water and use that.

8. Divide the cooked pasta into two portions and layer one portion on top of the sauce. Similarly, divide the ricotta-pesto-vegetables into two portions and spread one portion on top of the layer of pasta. Repeat with remaining pasta and vegetables.

9. On top of the last layer of vegetables, add a few dollops of ricotta cheese with a spoon. Then sprinkle shredded cheese over it. Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and spread them over the cheese.

10. Place the baking dish in the pre-heated oven for 15 minutes.

11. Remove from oven and let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Garnish with fresh basil leaves and serve with a piece of fresh French bread.