The Glorious Green Pasta Bake

Green is my mum’s favourite colour. When growing up, I remember several instances where my mum was looking for the perfect green vase, cushion or accessory. Many years later, guess what? Green is my favourite colour too.
It’s in my wardrobe and in my food. Every shade of green is welcome in my plate. I love the light green of fennel tips as well as the typical cavolo nero dark green. Let’s be honest, once you’ve past your childhood, green in the plate is cool.

It’s worth mentioning that I’ve been obsessed with making the perfect spinach béchamel for a while and that I feel I’ve reached a point where I’m satisfied with the result. The béchamel when cooked in the oven mixes perfectly with the mascarpone and ricotta filling of the pasta. The pancetta and grated cheese are the final salty note on top.

This pasta bake is my ode to green. I really enjoyed making and eating it. I hope you do to!

---

Ode to green

Ingredients

For the Spinach Béchamel
250g milk
50g spinach
30g butter
30g flour
Salt
Nutmeg
1 Spring onion

350g conchiglioni pasta (or any pasta you can stuff)
250g mascarpone
250 ricotta
80 parmesan
Salt, Pepper & Nutmeg
200g smoked pancetta

A few raw spinach leaves & grated parmesan to sprinkle on top

These quantities are for 4 people (or 3 very hungry people)

Step by Step

For the béchamel

• Boil the spinach and leave it to cool down in a colander (you want to get rid of all the excess water)

• Blend the milk with the boiled spinach until you get a nice and bright green liquid

• In a pan melt the butter and add in the thinly sliced spring onion. Sauté for a few minutes

• Take the pan off the hob and slowly add in the flour. Mix until smooth

• Slowly add the green liquid to your butter and flour mix. Make sure you are whisking vigorously when doing that to avoid creating lumps

• Once your spinach milk is well mixed, put the pan back on the hob and bring to boil while mixing. You have to keep the liquid moving until it thickens and boils. As soon as it boils, your spinach béchamel is ready

The pasta

• Bring water to boil for the pasta. Cook it only for half of the time mentioned on the pack (I cooked mine for 5min only). Drain the pasta and let it cool down

• In a bowl mix the ricotta, mascarpone, parmesan and season to taste with salt, pepper & nutmeg. Place the filling in a piping bag and rest in the fridge

• In a non stick pan cook your smoked pancetta until crunchy. You don’t have to add any additional fat, it will sweat out and cook in it’s own fat

Putting the dish together

• Add some spinach béchamel in a baking tray

• Fill in the pasta with the mascarpone and ricotta filling and place it in the tray

• Add some spinach béchamel on top of the pasta, sprinkle some grated parmesan and add some pancetta

• Repeat with another layer and keep going until your ingredients are finished

• Top with grated parmesan and a few raw spinach leaves

• Bake in a pre-heated oven for roughly 40mins at 200 C. If you like a crunchier top you might need to leave it in the oven a bit longer

• Enjoy!

Tips & cheats

If you are vegetarian just get rid of the pancetta. I recommend however to substitute it with something else as you’ll be missing a strong and salty element from the dish. Maybe a stronger flavoured cheese? More crunchy greens maybe? I am thinking broccoli and flaked almonds.

If you don’t like the idea of a green béchamel just get rid of the spinach and up your milk quantity as follows: 300g milk, 30g flour, 30g butter.

You can make a lasagna instead of conchiglioni