Baked Penne with Spinach, Roasted Peppers & BACON
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Recipe inspiration:
My family loves baked pasta dishes. When I saw all of the great flavors of creamy soups that Pacific Natural Foods offers, I thought the Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup would make a fabulous base for a new baked pasta recipe. It did… the creamy flavors of Roasted Red Peppers and Tomato do wonderful things for pasta. I incorporated spinach, bacon and roasted red peppers. And there’s plenty of cheese too. This recipe makes a whole bunch, which is a good thing since it tastes even better the next day!
Recipe ingredients:
SAUCE:16 ounce container of Pacific Natural Foods Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup
2 cups 2% milk
4 Tablespoons butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
freshly ground pepper, to taste
PASTA:
1 pound penne pasta (or ziti), cooked until tender, but still firm to the bite
1 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed dry
3/4 cup chopped jarred roasted red peppers
1 1/2 cups cubed Provolone cheese
8 slices of cooked bacon, crumbled
1 1/2 cups shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
Freshly ground black pepper
kosher salt
Cooking instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 9x13-inch pan (or other 2 1/2-quart baking dish) with nonstick spray.2. Prepare sauce: Heat soup and milk in a medium saucepan until small bubbles begin to form around the edges (just until hot). In a larger saucepan, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add flour and stir well. Continue to cook, stirring, until thick and smooth, about 2 minutes. Slowly begin adding hot soup/milk mixture to the large saucepan, whisking constantly while adding. Sauce will start out lumpy and become smooth as the liquid is incorporated.
3. Assemble the dish: In a large bowl, toss cooked pasta with the sauce. Break apart the spinach with your fingers and add it to the bowl. Also add red peppers, provolone cheese and 3/4 cup of Parmesan. Stir until ingredients are evenly distributed. Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Sprinkle with bacon crumbles and top with remaining Parmesan cheese. Finish with a good dose of freshly ground black pepper and a sprinkle of kosher salt.
4. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake 25 minutes. Uncover and bake until sauce is bubbling around the edges and the center is hot (about 10 minutes more). Remove from the oven and let cool for about 10 minutes before serving.
Tips:
*Pacific Natural Foods Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato Soup can usually be found in your market's natural food's aisle.
*Don't use generic pasta for this recipe. In baked pasta recipes, generic pasta tends to overcook. Make sure that you only cook the pasta to "al dente" state- about 5 minutes for penne. It will cook more in the baking process and become more tender.
*Substitutions: You can sub mozzarella for the Provolone, but the provolone will give the dish more flavor. Try using Applewood Smoked Bacon in this recipe too... so delicious.
*I kept the salt low in this recipe- using salted butter & a sprinkle of kosher salt on top of the pasta. Add more salt if you'd like.
Tonight’s dinner? Yes, please! Plus leftovers you say? Awesome. Thanks for another fantastic recipe!
I live in New Jersey and I’m not sure if any supermarkets carry that soup. Any suggestions?
Holly- hope you like it!
Ellen- In NJ, it looks like they carry their products at Stop n’ Shop, Whole Foods and Pathmark.. you can put in your zip code here and it will tell you where the products are carried: http://www.pacificfoods.com/where-to-buy
This soup is our favorite. I buy it @ Costco and have to buy 6 cartons at a time so this is a great idea to incorporate it into a delicious pasta dish. thanks
Lori, my wife Noelle absolutely loves your site. We try your recipes often. Good luck!!
Wow this looks GOOD – This is a winner!
Hi Lori! This sounds fantastic! I am always looking for new recipes for dinner that my son will eat and these are all the things he loves! Thanks!
This recipe looks fantastic! I am drooling. I love a baked pasta dish. This looks like a winner!
You got my vote! That penne looks like a crowd pleaser!!
I always love your recipes, this one is a must:)
OMG,Lori looks like you know what good is girl I love it.
Much Love
done! good luck!
I made this last night – it was awesome! thanks for the great recipe!
snacktime say you will win!!!
Yum, this looks good. Great idea using bacon!
This looks absolutely beautiful! Definitely a must try.
What a clever use of soup! I can’t wait to try this. You got my vote.
This looks really good. Can’t wait to try it. Will you come and make it for me???
Hi Lori
I’m voting for you everyday. I’ve tried to vote more than once, but apparently you are only allowed one vote per day. Best of luck. I hope you win.
Mark
This penne looks awesome- impossible not to love with that bacon!
This looks delicious. Love the flavor combination going on here!
Voted!
This looks soo good! I’m going to make this tonight for my family of 5 & the neighbor’s family of 4. Should I double the recipe?
Oh, this pasta with these flavors combined looks like it brings a great taste along with comfort!
Sounds really easy..my daughters love penne…
You call this a recipe? Can’t believe this got to Foodgawker. Canned soup, frozen spinach, jarred peppers? Why not just buy a Stouffer’s?
seems yummy. will try and make 1 today