Spinach and Feta Pasta Bake

On Wednesday I was a little bit lacking in ideas for what to have for tea.  Following an email from Fran we decided that we would have pasta as it has been a while.  Fran is also still not eating gluten and we had a big jar of GF pasta.  Plus, she had recently heard that a gluten-free diet can sometimes be lacking in iron!  Now I have no way of substantiating such a claim but if this is a good enough reason to eat spinach than that is fine as I love spinach. 

So it was decided that tea would be a gluten- free pasta and spinach dish.... but I was still lacking in ideas.  Then I thought of asking some newly found friends on the UK Food Bloggers Association as I was sure they would know what to do.  Sure enough, following a new discussion on the forum, a short while later I got a reply from Rosie of the fabulous Greedy Rosie's Dinner Blog.  Rosie suggested a pasta bake with spinach, feta and Parmesan which sounded perfect for a Wednesday night tea.  We also got a suggestion from Lucia of the equally wonderful Simply Italian Food to stir-fry the spinach in garlic before adding to the pasta - so that's what we did.

Spinach and Feta Pasta Bake

We had it as a main course with a little salad as shown which was just right for a rich but not too filling dish.  Using mostly Rosie's suggestion and a bit of guess work on the quantities we came up with the following:

1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil

2 Cloves of Garlic

Gluten-Free Pasta (enough to cover the base of a lasagna dish) 

200g Spinach

100g Feta Cheese

Tub of Marscapone Cheese

(Some) Milk

Grated Mozzarella and Cheddar Mix

Salt & Pepper

Half Teaspoon Grated Nutmeg

How we did it:

First we covered a lasagna dish with a layer of the dry pasta.

Then we stir-fried the garlic in olive oil for 5 mins and added the spinach till wilted.

This was added to the dry pasta along with the feta cheese (in small cubes), mixed and spinkled with ground nutmeg.

Then we made a sauce.  We used Marscapone and milk (Rosie's suggestion) as it needed be gluten-free.  We used a whole tub of cheese and perhaps half a pint of milk -  but just add it till the consistency feels right.

This was then poured over the top of the pasta and covered with grated mozzarella and cheddar.

We then baked it for about 25 minutes at 200c.

As Gluten-Free pasta cooks very quickly we were worried it might be over done but it was fine.  The mix needed a little water before cooking to make sure the pasta was submerged and didn't burn but the consistency was ok when cooked.  The taste was great too, quite rich though so wouldn't have a massive portion.  We were also a bit conscious of the fat/calories content so had it with some leaves rather than more carbs!!  So thank you Rosie and Lucia for your inspiration.  It worked well and was very quick and easy - just right for a weekday meal.  It is definitely something we shall eat again.