Simple Baked Ziti with Spinach, Artichokes and Pesto
Prep time
15 minutes
Cook time
30 minutes
Total time
45 minutes
With only about 15 minutes of hands-on time this easy baked ziti with spinach and artichokes is perfect for a weekday. A layer of sour cream and pesto is sandwiched in the middle of the baked ziti. If you do not have sour cream, feel free to use cream cheese, cottage cheese or ricotta cheese.
Created By: Adam and Joanne Gallagher
Yield: 6
You Will Need
- 1 pound (454 grams) dry ziti pasta
- One 26-ounce (737 grams) jar tomato pasta sauce
- 1/4 cup (60 grams) basil pesto
- 3/4 cup (175 grams) sour cream
- 6 cups (180 grams) loosely packed baby spinach leaves
- One 12-ounce (340 grams) jar artichokes, drained
- 4 ounces (113 grams) shredded mozzarella cheese (about 1 cup)
Directions
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Spray a 3-quart baking dish with non-stick cooking spray or lightly grease with butter. (A 13-inch by 9-inch pan works well for this).
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil then add pasta and cook according to the package directions (this usually takes about 10 minutes). Before draining, reserve about a 1/4 cup of the pasta water - we will use this later. Then, drain pasta.
- While the pasta cooks, heat the tomato sauce. You can do this on the stove or in the microwave, and then set aside.
- In a small bowl, stir the basil pesto and sour cream together, and then set aside.
- Add drained pasta to a large bowl then add spinach, drained artichokes, hot tomato sauce and about a 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water. Then, toss.
- Add about half of the pasta and spinach mixture to the baking dish. Then, spread the sour cream and pesto on top. Scatter about half of the shredded mozzarella cheese on top of the sour cream then add the rest of the pasta on top of that. Press everything down into the baking dish then scatter the rest of the mozzarella cheese on top.
