This baked spinach pasta uses frozen spinach leaves (you can use fresh spinach leaves including baby spinach leaves too), frozen peas or fresh garden peas and cellentani pasta.
This is an eggless, meatless vegetarian spinach pasta bake but this is not vegan as we use milk and butter in the preparation.
However, to make this vegan, you can easily replace milk with water and butter with oil if you like.
Cellentani pasta which is another name for cavatappi pasta is great for pasta bakes, pasta salads and any pasta dish as they hold the shape really well when cooked.
In my experience it doesn’t get mushy so fast and I am a fan of cellentani pasta shape from barilla.
I have this cellentani pasta recipe with roasted cherry tomatoes here which is too easy to make and delicious.
However you can use any of your favorite pasta shapes for this pasta bake I guess.
Also try this no boil spaghetti bake recipe here if you love to try more no boil pasta dishes.
I didn’t add any cheese to this baked spinach pasta, but you can add some shredded cheese too once the baking is done (or few minutes prior to that) if you like to add cheese.
How to make delicious baked spinach pasta without boiling the pasta first?
Making no boil baked spinach pasta without boiling the pasta or noodles is easy to do and it much less work than boiling the pasta and draining the water.
However you need to follow the recipe and instructions for the best results.
One important thing with making no boil baked pasta recipes is that you shouldn’t stir the pasta in between the process unless as directed in the recipe instructions.
This is because while the pasta is still uncooked (mostly it will be uncooked while you are half way through it), the pasta still need to be submerged in the liquid to complete the cooking.
So the pasta should be stirred only once the pasta is completely cooked or as per the directions in the recipe.
If you stir in between the process, before the pasta is cooked, you run the risk of under cooked pasta shells that may get exposed during the stirring process (I have done it :)) and so they kind of burnt instead of getting cooked.
So make sure to follow the directions in the recipe and avoid the tendency to stir the pasta before its cooked!
So here is how you can make this easy and delicious baked spinach pasta without boiling the pasta first following this easy recipe.
Baked Spinach Pasta With Cellentani Pasta Recipe Below
Baked Spinach Pasta Vegetarian Recipe With Cellentani Pasta (No Boil Recipe)
Ingredients
- 16 oz pasta shells I used cellentani pasta shells
- 10 oz spinach chopped, I used frozen spinach leaves
- ½ cup peas fresh or frozen
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 tablespoon olive oil may use little more if needed
- salt as needed
- 1 cup milk
- 2.5 cups marinara sauce or tomato basil pasta sauce
- 3 cups water should barely cover the pasta (if needed, may add more liquid)
- 1 tablespoon onion powder or flakes
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degree Fahrenheit degrees.
- Layer the pasta shells in a single layer in the baking pan.
- Add the milk, water, salt and spice, mix well.
- Add the marinara sauce and oil, mix well again so the sauce and oil blends well with the pasta.
- Finally add the spinach leaves and green peas to the pan, stir into mix with the rest of the ingredients.
- Place the butter (if you are using melted butter you can add early with the oion top of the baking pan.
- Cover the pan with foil and bake in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes of baking, remove the foil carefully, (do not sir the contents at this poinand bake for another 20 minutes or until the pasta is baked well (you may also bake for few more minutes if you wish (and add some shredded cheese too if you wish sto lightly brown the top, but make sure to watch to avoid burning of pasta.).
- Stir and serve, enjoy the easy, delicious and healthy no boil baked spinach pasta!
Nutrition
Hope you found this post on baked spinach pasta with cellentani pasta helpful in making easy and delicious baked pasta.
There are vegan alternatives to just about everything! Almond milk is a good option for this recipe.
And 2 vegan butters that are easily found at any grocery store are Earth Balance and Country Crock Plant-Based Butter..
There are also vegan cheeses you could use if you desire.
And for other recipes that call for eggs, there’s a great vegan product called “JUST Egg”.
I liked this recipe with plant-based alternatives.
I made it a second time adding sliced zucchini, yellow squash, halved cherry tomatoes, and olives.
Hi Shannon, Thank you for the feedback and thank you for sharing information on vegan options that could be used for this recipe! They will be of much help to anyone who want to make this vegan. I am so glad that you like this recipe and tried it twice! Also adding zucchini squas & other veggies sounds great! Thank you so much for such detailed feedback and sharing of information for this recipe. Much appreciated! Thanks again.