Sometimes you want a quick meal that doesn’t take all day to pull together. This Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce 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.
Ingredients Needed
This is just a preview of ingredients and method, keep scrolling for full printable recipe.
- Tortellini – You can find dried tortellini in the regular pasta aisle- a great thing to have in your pantry. You can also use fresh tortellini that you find near the deli or frozen tortellini would work, too.
- Bacon – Pancetta will also work.
- Fresh garlic
- All-prupose flour
- Milk
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- Dry basil
- Red pepper flakes – These don’t make the dish spicy, they just add a nice kick of flavor.
- Lemon
- Fresh spinach leaves
- Mozzarella cheese – Freshly grated is best!
- Parmesan cheese – Freshly grated is best!
How to Make a Tortellini Spinach Bake
- Get some water boiling and get those tortellini started, then move on to building your sauce.
- 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. It’s starts with cooking up a few strips of bacon (or pancetta would be great too) until crisp. You’ll use the fat from the bacon to make a roux with some fresh garlic, flour, and a little milk.
- We’ll flavor up that sauce with salt, pepper, basil, lemon juice, and lemon zest. The lemon is so bright and so fresh, it adds the perfect flavor to this creamy, savory dish. Add some red pepper flakes (a little just adds a kick of flavor, more will add some spice).
- When the tortellini are done cooking, we’ll drain those and return them to the pot they were cooked in. Toss in some spinach and bacon (reserve a bit of bacon for a topping at the end as well).
- We’ll add a little cheese, both Parmesan and Mozarella, for flavor and creamy-melty-cheesy-goodness. 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!
Storing and Other Tips
- Store cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and enjoy within 4-5 days for best results.
- Terminology tip: When a recipe calls for “loosely packed” spinach, it looks like the first photo below: lightly piled into your measuring cup. When it calls for it to be “roughly chopped,” it looks like the second photo.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! You can assemble the entire dish, cover it, and refrigerate it before baking.
Sure. Sub in another oil or fat for the bacon grease. There will still be plenty of flavor from the garlic and cheeses.
Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce
Ingredients
- 12 ounces bag Barilla Cheese & Spinach Tortelini find them in the dry pasta aisle
- 4 ounces bacon or pancetta (about 4 strips bacon)*
- 3 cloves garlic pressed in garlic press or finely minced
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups milk
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 ½ teaspoon dry basil
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes 1/2 tsp or more if you like spicy
- 1 medium lemon
- 2 cups loosely packed fresh spinach roughly chopped
- ¾ cups grated mozzarella cheese divided
- ¾ cups grated Parmesan cheese divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉. 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.
Notes
- Store cooled leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and enjoy within 4-5 days for best results.
- You can find dry tortellini on the pasta aisle, fresh tortellini near the deli, or frozen tortellini on the freezer aisle. All will work!
Questions & Reviews
Darn I was about to pick up some cheese tortellini the other day at the store but didn’t. Guess I’ll have to make another trip to the store so I can make this!
PS Oh how I wish you were going to be doing some signings in Texas (it IS right next to Louisiana! Wink. Wink.)
Yeah! i have extra Tortellini left from when I made the Tortellini soup on your website. This will be perfect for using it up. Thanks!
This looks and sounds easy and delicious. A perfect combination with a new baby about to arrive. I’ll have to make sure I have these ingredients in my pantry and fridge. By the way, I just got your cookbook and I’m so excited! I love how there are pictures of every single recipe. Mmmmm…
What are the chances? I have ALL of these ingredients! Forget my menu plan, I’m making THIS for dinner!
This sounds so good! We love tortellini and anything with lemon, can’t wait to try this.
wahoo! southeast Idaho! I’m excited.
This looks wonderful! I can’t wait to make it for a light summer dinner.
Are you kidding me?! I just looked in my fridge at my huge package of spinach and my tortellini and thought, “What am I going to do with these?” We’re so eating this for dinner. Thanks!
Yessss. I’ve been practicing my mind-reading capabilities, looks like they’re working! 😉
Same here! I had spinach, milk, bacon, and cheese to use up before traveling for the holidays, plus a package of tortellini with an expiration date of 12/24. This is dinner (and lunch tomorrow).
Ummmm….YUM! This looks FABULOUS! And, as a side note…I hosted Easter brunch yesterday for both my family and my husband’s, and every item I made was out of your cookbook. I got SOOOOO many compliments!! Blog followers, if you don’t yet have this cookbook, go get it today!
Woo Hoo! Glad is was such a success!
Once upon a time I thought I’d be clever and keep the bacon grease in a can under my sink until I opened it one day and smelled it. It, in NO way, smells like delicious frying bacon. It was bad enough to kibosh the idea and use the grease only if it’s fresh from the pan. Hats off to people who can handle the smell…and the new wardrobe required if cooking with bacon grease all the time.
Oh, and a big fat mmmmmmm on this recipe. I like.
I keep mine in the fridge. Bacon grease gets nasty if kept at room temp IMO.
I do what my mom always did – Keep bacon grease in a coffee mug in the door of the fridge – and when done cooking bacon, it gets poured directly into the mug. If it happens to be full, the grease gets disposed of. Then, whenever you would use a little butter or margarine in cooking, say to grease a pan before sauteing, instead we use the grease. 99% of the time you don’t even taste the bacon – I just don’t recommend using it in any type of baking… unless you’re going for the hint ‘o bacon flavour!