This baked pasta is the ultimate weeknight hero: smoky bacon, sweet cherry tomatoes and wilted spinach tossed with pasta and dollops of cream cheese, finished in the oven until bubbly. Everything comes together in a single baking dish with barely any cleanup. If one-pan pasta dinners are your thing, you will also enjoy our Navy-Style Pasta with Ground Meat and the cozy Hearty Chicken and Pasta Pie.
Ingredients
- 1/3 pack (about 170 g / 6 oz) pasta, cooked
- 200 g (7 oz) bacon, chopped
- 200 g (7 oz) cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1 large handful fresh spinach
- 140-150 g (5 oz) cream cheese
- Black pepper and Italian herbs to taste
- Olive oil
- Grated cheese for topping (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). In a baking dish, combine the spinach, cherry tomatoes and bacon.
- Season with pepper and Italian herbs and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Bake for 15 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, stir everything together, add the cooked pasta and dollops of cream cheese, and mix well.
- Sprinkle with grated cheese if desired and return to the oven for a few minutes to warm through. Serve hot.
Tips
- Salt your pasta water generously — it is the only chance to season the pasta itself.
- Do not overbake after adding the cream cheese; a few minutes is enough to warm it through. Serious Eats has excellent guides on baked pasta technique if you want to experiment further.
- That big handful of spinach looks like a lot, but it wilts down to almost nothing — do not hold back.
Nutrition — per 100 g: 111 kcal, protein 3.5 g, fat 4.6 g, carbs 11 g.