People are always asking us how we come up with recipes, and also what we cook when we don’t really have a plan, or we’re short on time. We’ll be the first to admit that we’re not above drive-throughs, cold cereal, and frozen meals. But sometimes you just want a good, hearty, home-cooked meal. This is a great example of a really good dinner, that was created by simple ingredients I already had around my kitchen. I’ve said over and over that the trick to being able to whip up quick, yet delicious meals in a pinch is keeping a well-stocked pantry. One of the things I always have around is dried pasta, in all shapes and sizes. I love quick cooking tortellini that can be a great base to so many quick dinners- and there’s something fun about little pouches of cheese! I also almost always have a giant package of fresh spinach from Costco in my fridge, and it’s so cheap that I don’t hesitate buying it in such large quantities. After a week or so I’m always looking for ways to use it up quick before it goes bad.
This is an awesome little pasta bake and the great thing is that it looks fancy and tastes decadent, but it’s super simple to throw together (shhh…no one has to know!) And although it’s rich and creamy and cheesy, it’s also fairly healthy. I love dinners that I can throw together during my baby’s nap-time and pop in the fridge to have ready at dinner time when things get crazy.
Let’s cook.
Obviously you’ll need tortellini! You can find dried tortellini in the regular pasta aisle- a great thing to have in your pantry.
You don’t need to have any jarred sauce on hand for this dish- the sauce is SO good and you’ll be amazed how quick and easy it is. Start by cooking up a few strips of bacon (or pancetta would be great too) until crisp. It only takes a little bit for good flavor throughout the dish.
After you take the bacon out of the pan, you’re going to make a simple roux– but instead of butter, we’ll take advantage of the fat we’ve already got right there in the pan! You’ll just use a little bit, and discard the rest of the grease. I usually just take a wad of paper towels and soak it right up and toss it in the trash. (Or save it in a jar if you’re a save-the-bacon-grease type of person)
In the little bit of bacon grease in the pan, toss in some minced garlic. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again- the smell of fresh garlic sauteing in bacon drippings is one of the most intoxicating smells in the world. Glade needs to market that one. Add a little flour and a little milk (non-fat is fine) and you’ve got yourself a base to a nice creamy sauce.
We’ll flavor it up with salt and pepper of course, a little basil, and then some fresh lemon zest, lemon juice, and some red pepper flakes. The lemon is so bright and so fresh, it adds the perfect flavor to this creamy, savory dish. And with the red pepper flakes, you can add just a little, for flavor and no heat- or a lot, for flavor and a nice kick. Up to you. It’s like a choose your own adventure book (remember those??) I added 1/4 teaspoon and it wasn’t spicy at all. Really. I promise.
By now those tortellini are done cooking (they only take about 10 minutes) so drain those and then place them back in the pot they came out of.
When our recipes call for “loosely packed spinach” this is what we mean. Just set the spinach in the measuring cup gently and don’t pack it down.
And when we say “roughly chopped” it just looks like this- no need to be meticulous, just run a knife through it real quick.
The tortellini is back in the pot and now we’ll toss in the spinach and the bacon (I reserve about 1 tablespoon of the bacon to put on top at the end)
We’ll also add a little cheese, both Parmesan and Mozarella, for flavor and creamy-melty-cheesy-goodness. If you wanted to bulk up the meal and add some protein, some chopped grilled chicken would be fantastic ion there too!
Stir in the sauce and pop it all in a baking dish with a little more cheese and bacon on top. At this point it can be covered in foil and go in the fridge for later, or right into the oven.
It bakes up in 20-30 minutes, and while it’s in the hot oven the flavors have a party and come out tasting even better than when they started. Amazing how that happens!
Serve it as a one dish dinner with a piece of crusty french bread on the side, or as a side to chicken or steak. Makes a great addition to a pot-luck too. With the fun tortellini and the yummy cheesy sauce, my kids said NOTHING about the fact that there was spinach in there. Plus one for team Mom!
Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce
Recipe by Our Best Bites
12 oz bag Barilla Cheese & Spinach Tortelini (find them in the dry pasta aisle)
4 oz bacon or pancetta, (about 4 strips bacon)*
3 cloves garlic, pressed in garlic press or finely minced
2 Tbs flour
2 C milk
¾ tsp kosher salt
⅛ tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp dry basil
¼ tsp red pepper flakes (1/2 tsp or more if you like spicy)
1 medium lemon
2 C loosely packed fresh spinach, roughly chopped
¾ C grated mozzarella cheese, divided
¾ C grated Parmesan cheese, divided
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill a large stock pot with water and bring to a boil. Add tortellini and cook according to package instructions.
Place bacon in a medium sized skillet on the stove-top at medium-high heat. Cook until crisp. Remove bacon from pan with slotted spoon and set on paper towels to drain. Reserve two tablespoons bacon drippings in pan and discard the rest. Add garlic to pan and cook until fragrant and tender, about 1 minute. Add flour to pan and stir with a whisk for about 1 minute. Slowly add milk and continue to stir with whisk until smooth. Add salt, pepper, basil, and red pepper flakes and bring sauce to a simmer.
While sauce is heating, use a microplane grater or a fine-holed cheese grater to zest lemon. Then cut lemon in half and remove juice. Add 2 teaspoons zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice to sauce. (Note: I really love lemon so I added this to my tastes. If you don’t want as strong of a lemon flavor, I suggest cutting it down to 1 teaspoon zest and 2 teaspoons lemon juice) . Continue to stir until thickened, 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.
Drain tortellini and place back in stock pot. Reserve 1 tablespoon of the cooked bacon and add the rest to the pasta mixture. Add spinach, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Add sauce and gently stir to combine. Place pasta mixture in an 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish and top with remaining 1/4 cup mozarella and 1/4 cup parmesan and also crumbled bacon.
Cover pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, until cheese on top is melted and pasta is bubbly throughout. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.
* For a vegetarian meal, omit bacon.
Serves 4-6
Questions & Reviews
I just made this last night…it was soooo good! The only thing I changed was using turkey bacon but I’m sure it tastes almost the same. Thanks for sharing this great recipe.
This was the first recipe I tried from your site. It was so good, I’ve now based the rest of the weeks menu off other recipes I’ve found here! Thanks for so many family friendly meal ideas.
PS. our store only carried a little bag of the barrilla tortellini (dinner for 2)…It was less expensive for me to buy the fresh tortellini than to buy 2-3 of the little bags. Still turned out amazing!
holy cow. just made this and before it goes in the oven I’m pretty sure I could eat the entire pan myself. Amazing. Now we’ll see what the kids and husband think. Next time I’ll pick up a costco rotisserie chicken and throw that in there. Also, I had bad luck with the bacon drippings/flour combo and ended up re-doing it using butter. However the problem could have been I had to break up a knock down drag out fight between my boys right in the middle of the flour roux deal. Not a good combo, i know. thanks again.
I made this for dinner tonight, and it was fantastic! Myself and my fiance absolutely loved it, and our toddler ate four whole bites before leaving the dinner table, which we considered a huge success (seriously, why do children refuse to eat for weeks at a time??). We both thought the lemon flavor was a really nice touch, and the addition of some grilled chicken really made it a meal. Unfortunately, to save time, I made the bacon hours beforehand to get that part out of the way (in the oven – thanks for the tips!), and forgot to save the drippings. I nearly cried. Garlic and bacon are two of my most favorite things, and I’m pretty sure your description of that part is what made me make this. So, sadly, I had to use butter for my roux. Still, absolutely wonderful! Thanks for the recipe, and best of luck in the contest!!
So I have been so excited to make this dish for dinner, but COULD NOT find those tortellini at any of my grocery stores in utah! Am I looking in the right place? I just went down the dry pasta aisle and couldn’t find them. I did find some DaVinci tortellinis but no spinach and cheese ones, which I really wanted to try. Hmmmm I guess I struggle with finding things. Am I looking in the right place? It looks so yummy!!
Jessica, I think this is a new product so it might not be in your store quite yet. I would ask the store manager just to check, and then if you still can’t find it- you could try another brand, or try the fresh pasta (usually near the cheese, or in the deli) and you could sub fresh tortellini. You can also usually find tortellini in the freezer section as well.
I looked and looked for the pasta and eventually found them at Walmart!
I just tried this recipe last night and I thought it was delicious. Have you ever thought of adding artichoke hearts (instead of or in addition to the lemon) to this as a take on spinach artichoke dip?
Yes! In fact I had a jar of artichoke hearts on my counter until the very last minute trying to decide whether or not to put it in! I would be so good. The only reason I decided not to add them was because I was trying to keep the recipe as simple as possible and we have several other really similar recipes that include artichokes. But it would seriously taste awesome! I would probably but back on the lemon a bit though, since artichokes are tangy as well. Let me know if you try it!
I doubled the recipe and added the meat from a Sam’s Club rotisserie chicken. It made 2 – 9×13 pans. I froze one and had it later. It does freeze well. I’d make a little more sauce next time, since I added the chicken, but it was WONDERFUL! Everyone loves it!
I made this recipe the other night and loved it! My hubby even loved it… even after he stated that he wouldn’t like it when I told him what was in it. It is going to be added to the regular rotation!
Another great recipe I tried tonight! Everyone loved it!