Baked Rigatoni with Spinach, Ricotta, & Fontina

By BobD

A quick and easy version on spinach and ricotta cannelloni. This baked pasta is made easy because there's nothing to stuff. Simply tossing the filling with the cooked rigatoni, then topping with fontina will have dinner on the table in no time at all. Absolutely delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 pound rigatoni
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 (10-ounce) package frozen spinach, thawed
• 2 cups (about 1 pound) ricotta
• 5 tablespoons Parmesan, grated
• 1/2 teaspoon grated nutmeg
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
• 6 ounces fontina, grated (about 1 1/2 cups)

Preparation

Step 1

Heat the oven to 450°F. Oil a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the rigatoni until almost done, about 12 minutes. Drain. Put the pasta in the prepared baking dish and toss with 1 tablespoon of the oil.

Meanwhile, squeeze as much of the water as possible from the spinach. Put the spinach in a food processor and puree with the ricotta, 3 tablespoons of the Parmesan, the nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Stir in half the fontina.

Stir the spinach mixture into the pasta. Top with the remaining fontina and Parmesan. Drizzle the remaining 2 tablespoons oil over the top. Bake the pasta until the top is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes.