This pasta bake is perfect for using up all of the fresh summer vegetables in your garden or at the farmer’s market, including basil pesto, zucchini, and asparagus. Add some pasta, cheese, and shrimp and you have a complete and delicious meal!
Why Make this Recipe
- Perfect for Summer: If you are obsessed with summer foods and the fresh, bright flavors they provide, this is the best meal for you! Basil, asparagus, and zucchini are some great summer produce options featured in this recipe, perfect for picking fresh from your garden or buying at the farmers market.
- Light Flavors: One of my favorite things about this dish is that it’s pretty light. The pesto mixed with veggies and seafood means that you won’t be feeling weighed down after eating this meal.
What Do I Need to Make this Recipe
Ingredients
- Pasta: I use rigatoni but you can use anything you’d like. I’d recommend a short, hollow noodle.
- Pesto: You can use normal pesto, but if you really want an exciting dish, I would recommend pistachio pesto! It adds another layer of uniqueness to the recipe.
- Ricotta: If you have the means to do so, I would recommend buying fresh ricotta from the cheese counter at a local market. I also LOVE making my own ricotta in an Instant Pot! You can certainly use store-bought, prepackaged ricotta, but, trust me, the high quality stuff makes all the difference.
- Mozzarella: Again, I would buy high quality mozzarella, not the packaged, pre-shredded stuff if possible. I like buying a block at my grocery store and grating it on a cheese grater at home.
- Shrimp: Raw, deveined, no tails, no shells. I use medium-large sized shrimp, but you can use any size that works for you.
- Asparagus: Check out this post to learn How to Trim Asparagus.
Tools
- Baking Tray
- Cutting Board
- Knife
- Measuring Spoons
- Measuring Cups
- 9×13 Casserole Dish
How to Make this Recipe
Step 1: Cook the Vegetables
Preheat the oven to 375 Fahrenheit.
Put the cut zucchini and asparagus on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Toss the vegetables to make sure they’re evenly coated.
Cook the vegetables for 30 minutes or until roasted to your liking.
Step 2: Prepare the Pasta Bake
In the bottom of a 9×13 pan, add the cooked pasta and prepared pesto. Mix to fully coat the pasta.
Add the cooked vegetables to the pasta, then add the raw shrimp.
Scoop spoonfuls of ricotta over the baking dish, then sprinkle the entire top of the dish with shredded mozzarella.
Step 3: Bake
Place the 9×13 in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, until the shrimp is cooked all the way through and the mozzarella is melted.
Enjoy!
Expert Tips
- If you want to make this dish even quicker, you can use already prepared vegetables. It would taste good with almost anything that’s in your fridge!
- I love sprinkling some chopped pistachios on top of this dish!
- Keep some extra pesto on hand in case you want extra sauce on your noodles after they’re done baking.
Recipe FAQs
What Other Vegetables Could I Add to This Recipe?
Great question! You can replace the zucchini and asparagus, or add other veggies in addition. Some great options are listed below:
- Bell peppers
- Tomatoes
- Mushrooms
- Squash
- Spinach
- And more
What Other Proteins Can I Add to This Recipe?
If you don’t like/don’t want to make shrimp, you can also use sausage or chicken!
I would recommend pan frying the sausage before adding it to the baking pan so that it’s nice and crispy.
You will also need to cook your chicken before adding it to the Ricotta Pasta Bake because it takes longer to cook than shrimp does. Alternatively, you can bake it for longer than the instructions indicate to cook all of the chicken (though I wouldn’t recommend this option as it can dry out the pesto).
Pre-Cooking The Noodles vs Not Pre-Cooking the Noodles
Most recipes that include putting the pasta in an oven will tell you not to boil the pasta all the way, and to add more liquid to the bottom of your casserole dish before baking.
In this case, we’re only baking the dish long enough for the cheese to melt and the shrimp to cook through (aka not long), you don’t have to worry about the noodles overcooking in the oven.
How to Keep your Pasta Bake from Drying Out
I generally find that the Ricotta Pasta Bake doesn’t dry out when only being baked for 10 minutes. However, if you have a different experience or are just worried that your dish will dry out, make sure to prepare ahead of time!
I would keep some extra pesto on hand, and that way if you need to spoon it over your dish, you are ready. However, I don’t believe you should need to do this.
Storing Tips
You can store the leftovers of this dish in an airtight container. It will keep well in the fridge for up to 5 days. You can also freeze it for up to 6 months if you’d prefer.
Have extra ricotta? Try this Lemon Ricotta Pasta recipe. You can use whatever fun shaped pasta noodles you have on hand and the bright, lemony flavor makes it light as well as a quick meal. I have some other suggestions for What To Eat With Ricotta Cheese.
Did you enjoy this Ricotta Pasta Bake recipe? If so, make sure to check out these other recipes I picked out just for you:
- The Best Vodka Sauce Recipe
- Pizza Pasta Bake
- Stuffed Shells
- Shrimp Scampi
- Creamy Pesto Pasta in the Instant Pot
Ricotta Pasta Bake
Equipment
- Cutting Board
- Knife
- Measuring Spoons
- Measuring Cups
- Pot
- 9×13 Casserole Dish
Ingredients
- 2 zucchini, sliced in rounds
- 10 asparagus stalks, cut into 2 inch pieces
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- 8 oz rigatoni, cooked according to package instructions
- ¾ cup pesto, I recommend this pistachio pesto
- ¾ lb raw Shrimp
- 1 cup ricotta cheese, Use this homemade version
- 1 cup mozzarella, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 Fahrenheit.
- Put the cut zucchini and asparagus on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Toss the vegetables to make sure they’re evenly coated.
- Cook the vegetables for 30 minutes or until roasted to your liking.
- In the bottom of a 9×13 pan, add the cooked pasta and prepared pesto. Mix to fully coat the pasta.
- Add the cooked vegetables to the pasta, then add the raw shrimp.
- Scoop spoonfuls of ricotta over the baking dish, then sprinkle the entire top of the dish with shredded mozzarella.
- Place the 9×13 in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, until the shrimp is cooked all the way through and the mozzarella is melted.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Pasta: I use rigatoni but you can use anything you’d like. I’d recommend a short, hollow noodle.
- Pesto: You can use normal pesto, but if you really want an exciting dish, I would recommend pistachio pesto! It adds another layer of uniqueness to the recipe.
- Ricotta: If you have the means to do so, I would recommend buying fresh ricotta from the cheese counter at a local market. I also LOVE making my own ricotta in an Instant Pot! You can certainly use store-bought, prepackaged ricotta, but, trust me, the high quality stuff makes all the difference.
- Mozzarella: Again, I would buy high quality mozzarella, not the packaged, pre-shredded stuff if possible. I like buying a block at my grocery store and grating it on a cheese grater at home.
- Shrimp: Raw, deveined, no tails, no shells. I use medium-large sized shrimp, but you can use any size that works for you.
- If you want to make this dish even quicker, you can use already prepared vegetables. It would taste good with almost anything that’s in your fridge!
- I love sprinkling some chopped pistachios on top of this dish!
- Keep some extra pesto on hand in case you want extra sauce on your noodles after they’re done baking.
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