No-Boil Pasta Bake With Squash and Spinach Bakes in 90 Minutes

This article was prepared from the source material provided, which includes a recipe description and ingredient list adapted from an Ottolenghi recipe published in The Guardian.

A pasta bake that skips boiling, sauce-making, and roasting brings butternut squash, baby spinach, and three cheeses together in one bowl before baking for 90 minutes. The recipe, adapted from an Ottolenghi dish published in The Guardian, calls for a parchment-lined springform pan and 15 minutes of prep, yielding eight servings with only a cutting board, knife, whisk, grater, and bowl to wash.

The method upends typical pasta-bake proportions: 8 ounces of dried pasta meet 1¼ pounds of butternut squash and 5 ounces of baby spinach, meaning the dish has either half the pasta or twice the vegetables of most similar bakes. Raw ingredients go directly into the pan, and the long oven time is hands-off except for removing foil midway.

What Goes Into the Pan

The mixture starts with one large egg and 1 cup (250 grams) ricotta, whisked together, then combined with half of the parmesan, all the fontina, water, olive oil, kosher salt, optional nutmeg, black pepper, red pepper flakes, and thinly sliced garlic. Chopped spinach, thinly sliced squash, and optional sage or thyme are stirred in, followed by the dried pasta—broken into pieces if large or long—until everything is coated.

The mixture is poured into a 9-inch springform pan lined with parchment, pressed into an even layer, and topped with the remaining parmesan. The parchment is folded over the top, the pan is covered tightly with foil, and it bakes on a sheet at 350°F for 1 hour. Then the foil comes off, the parchment is reopened, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil is drizzled over before returning to the oven uncovered for 30 minutes.

Texture and Make-Ahead Notes

The finished bake has tender noodles in the center, a crisp top, softened squash, and cooked spinach, with garlic and toasted cheese aromas. If the top needs more color, the recipe suggests a minute or two under the broiler. It should cool in the pan on a rack for 30 minutes before the springform ring is removed and the bake is slid onto a serving plate and cut into wedges.

The dish keeps in the refrigerator for up to one week and can be rewarmed uncovered in a 350-degree oven. The author has not frozen it but expects it would freeze well if tightly wrapped. Total time is 15 minutes of prep plus 2 hours to bake and rest.