Spinach & Pasta Casserole
Spinach & Pasta Casserole
Very easy to make and it is really delicious! This makes a lot! I made this on 20 Aug 2016. Link to the shortcut is listed in the Recipe Notes section.
Ingredients
- 500 grams minced pork, OR ground beef, OR ground chicken
- 1 can tomato pasta sauce, OR make from a shortcut listed on this site
- 125 grams Cream cheese, softened, this is 1/2 a standard block
- 500 grams dry Penne pasta, OR any bite size pasta
- 2 cups spinach, I used frozen that was thawed, perfect
- 400 grams Mozzarella Cheese, shredded, this is 2 standard blocks
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F). Get out 2 baking dishes.
- Cook the pasta in boiling water until just done, drain and place in the baking dish or dishes.
- While the water is heating for the pasta, brown the minced pork (or meat of your choice) in skillet (feel free to use more meats as well), drain any fat. Add the tomato sauce and softened cream cheese that has been cut into cubes, and the thyme, season with salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally until the cheese is melted or nearly melted.
- Spoon the meat sauce over the pasta layer in the baking dish or dishes. Then add the spinach over the meat sauce.
- Now layer the shredded cheese over the spinach. One block of cheese per dish.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese starts to brown. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Minced pork is about 62 Baht/500 grams. The Cream cheese is 60 Baht for half of a 250 gram block, and the Mozzarella cheese is about 280 Baht for two 200 gram blocks. Make the tomato sauce from paste for greater savings. This comes out to about $1.20 per serving for 10 servings. Using chicken this would be less, using beef would be more.
Shortcut: Tomato Sauce.
Adapted from an internet recipe.
The Real Person!
The Real Person!
I made this on 20 Aug 2016, and it was fantastic! It makes a lot though as written, so unless you are feeding a crowd, you may want to scale this back. I made the tomato sauce using tomato paste and 2 cans of water, then mixing in some herbs such as oregano, thyme, basil and some black pepper. Highly recommended, on my Go-to List.