I know I’ve done a ton of pasta related stuff lately. For those that don’t follow the blog regularly, I’ve been posting spinach and three cheese manicotti and lasagna roll ups. But they’re so good for these upcoming cold days and everyone loves a good Alfredo. So today I’ve tweaked my chicken Alfredo pasta bake to make it more vegetarian friendly and for those who love tortellini. The great thing about this variation is you can skip the cooking time for the pasta because you don’t have to cook the tortellini beforehand.
It has spinach and mushrooms. Tons of baby bella mushrooms! And of course, lots and lots of cheese. Packed with Alfredo sauce mixed with ricotta cheese and topped with a mozzarella cheesy molten lava top, this one should feed 8-10 people. It’s super, super rich, so have a side ready to balance it out! Best of all? All you need are store-bought ingredients from the grocery store. No fancy pasta makers or 20 minute sauce making. Let’s start!
This was the first time I’ve played around with frozen tortellini and the package said 4 minutes was all it took to cook. So applying the same no-boil concept I used with my spinach and artichoke ravioli bake, I decided it had plenty of time to cook in the oven and did not need pre-boiling. You’ll want a bag of frozen ravioli, which I found pretty easily in the frozen section. Thaw it just a little in the fridge so they don’t stick together.
Cook the frozen spinach in the microwave and while you’re doing that, start chopping the mushrooms. It’ll look like a lot of mushrooms but don’t worry. They’ll cook down and shrink in size along the way, leaving plenty of room for the pasta. We’ll be sauteing the mushrooms on the stove beforehand because they tend to release some liquid once cooked and we don’t want that diluting the casserole. It’s the same reason we’ll use a mesh strainer or something similar to squeeze out as much liquid from the cooked spinach as possible. Long story short: excess liquid = bad!
It’s easy from here on out. Mix the slightly thawed tortellini with the Alfredo sauce (you can use store-bought or make your own) and add the cooked mushrooms and spinach and some sour cream. Season it too. You probably won’t need much salt because the Alfredo sauce will take care of that.
Then make the ricotta mix with good quality ricotta cheese (it makes a HUGE difference!), garlic, beaten egg, Parmesan and parsley. I forgot to toss in some garlic when I made this and only just realized this now while typing this out. Oops! You’ll want some garlic though, so don’t be like me. Then we mix the ricotta mixture with the tortellini mixture. It’ll make squishy, cheesy noises and you’ll start feeling guilty but that’s okay. Once in awhile, right? Not every day!
Pour the pasta mixture into a 9×13 casserole dish and top with mozzarella cheese. You don’t need to cover this while baking so just bake it for 30 minutes or so and get the cheese on top to brown by finishing off with a quick broil on the top rack.
Once that’s done, it’s ready to serve! Happy eating!
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Tortellini Alfredo Spinach Casserole
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 35 mins
- Total Time: 50 mins
- Yield: 8-10 1x
Ingredients
- 19 oz. frozen cheese tortellini
- 10 oz. frozen chopped spinach
- 16 oz. baby bella mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
- 1 1/2 cups Alfredo sauce
- 8 oz. sour cream
- 15 oz. ricotta cheese
- 1 teaspoon garlic, minced
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
- 1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Cook the spinach according to package directions and drain any excess liquid
- Meanwhile, saute mushrooms in some oil over medium high heat until mushrooms cook down, about 5 minutes. Drain any excess liquid
- Mix the frozen tortellini with Alfredo sauce, cooked mushrooms and spinach, sour cream and salt and pepper to taste
- Combine ricotta, garlic, egg, Parmesan and parsley and mix thoroughly
- Add the ricotta mixture to the tortellini mix and stir to combine
- Place pasta in a 9×13 casserole dish and top with mozzarella cheese
- Bake at 350 degrees F for 30 minutes or until bubbly
- Broil at 450 degrees F for 2-3 minutes or until cheese starts to brown
- Dish and serve hot
20 Comments
Susan
October 28, 2015 at 9:36 PMThis looks like the ultimate comfort food! I love that it is so easy to prepare. This is definitely a “must try”! Thanks for sharing.
The Cooking Jar
October 29, 2015 at 7:25 PMThank you, Susan! Yup, I’m going all out to give comforting recipes this Fall!
Allen
October 29, 2015 at 11:02 AMRegarding the Tortellini Alfredo Spinach Casserole We enjoyed this dish. Easy to make. Even my picky-eater 95-year-old mother-in-law liked it. Since there are only three of us I cut ingredients in half and that worked out fine.
★★★★
The Cooking Jar
October 29, 2015 at 7:27 PMThanks for getting back to me on how it turned out, Allen. I’m glad you managed to customize it size-wise for your family!
Dorothy Dunton
October 29, 2015 at 12:18 PMHi Farah! What a deliciously simple dish! All I would have to buy is the tortellini! I almost always have fresh mushrooms on hand and, if I don’t, I have a bag of really nice assorted dried mushrooms.
The Cooking Jar
October 29, 2015 at 7:29 PMDried mushrooms will work great if you rehydrate them and get rid of all water content! And this recipe was made especially for folks that wanna just get it all from the grocery store and have it all ready. Super easy!
Julie @ Cooks with Cocktails
October 29, 2015 at 5:16 PMLove that layer of cheese on top! Actually everything about this dish looks sooooo good. My man is a casserole kinda guy and hes gonna love this one too.
The Cooking Jar
October 29, 2015 at 7:32 PMIt’s swimming in cheese-related sauces and toppings! Not something I’d recommend eating on a day to day basis but for crummy and cold bad days when you need some comforting pick-me-up food, this should do it!
FoodGeekGraze
October 30, 2015 at 7:22 AMthree cheeses, sour cream, and alfredo sauce? i feel as if i need to send you a hand-written love letter or something, farah.
The Cooking Jar
October 31, 2015 at 10:47 PMSo sweet! Try it out and let me know 🙂
Maggie
November 6, 2015 at 1:06 AMSo enjoyed this new pasta version of Alfredo even though I managed to leave the spinach in the microwave!! I don’t at all feel guilty for devouring so much protein in one meal.
The Cooking Jar
November 8, 2015 at 3:47 PMAww to the spinach but I’m glad the food still worked out. Maybe I should leave instructions to not forget them in the microwave? 😉
Peter
November 17, 2015 at 5:07 AMSedapnya …I want to try it this weekend !
★★★★
The Cooking Jar
November 17, 2015 at 2:23 PMThanks and good luck cooking it, Peter!
Carrmel
September 4, 2017 at 12:47 PMCan I assemble a day ahead cook or not cook ahead
Carrmel
September 4, 2017 at 1:22 PMCan I prepare ahead
The Cooking Jar
September 13, 2017 at 2:53 PMOne day ahead should be fine. Keep it covered and refrigerated. Good luck!
Emily
October 6, 2017 at 5:56 PMThis is an awesome recipe. I love the flavor that the spinach and mushrooms bring. Easy and delicious. My husband loves it too!
★★★★★
The Cooking Jar
October 11, 2017 at 3:20 PMThanks for letting me know, Emily! 🙂
EL Mehdi
August 29, 2018 at 6:07 PMI have tried this after a whole week of hesitation xD and it turned out very tasty <3
★★★★★