While flipping through my current issue of Real Simple, I saw a recipe for Cheesy Baked Pasta with Spinach and Artichokes (228 April). Their recipe topped out at 491 calories. This seemed like a lot to me, so I decided to see if I could do any better. Disclaimer – I hate wheat pasta, so I don’t use it. You could certainly make this even better by using wheat/whole grain pasta.
Usually when I make a recipe and I want to know the calorie break down I use www.sparkrecipes.com. I highly suggest it.
Ingredients:
- Parmesan Cheese, grated, 1 oz shredded
Romano Cheese, 3 oz shredded
Spaghetti/Marinara Sauce (tomato sauce), 4 cups
Garlic, 3 cloves – Diced
Onions, 1/4 cup diced
Red Pepper Flakes – 1 tablespoon
Spinach, frozen, 1 package (10 oz) yields – defrosted
Ricotta cheese, fat-free, 5 oz
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 2 tbsp
Artichoke hearts canned, 14 oz roughly chopped
Pasta uncooked, 14 oz (I used lined ziti)
Process
- Preheat oven to 350
- Start the water for the pasta – cook until Al Dente
- Sautee the olive oil, onion, and garlic
- Next add the drained spinach, artichokes and red pepper to the garlic and onion
- After everything is heated, add half the jar of sauce, stir
- When the pasta is done, spread half of the veggie mixture in the bottom of a pan. Next add a layer of pasta, and dollops of ricotta. Repeat.
- Cover the top layer with the extra sauce and the grated cheese.
- Heat in the oven 12 – 15 minutes or until cheese is browned.
The final calorie count was 365 that is 126 saved calories. I think I’ll take it.
