Ricotta Pasta Bake

A close up of noodles, zucchini, ricotta cheese, basil, pesto, and shrimp.

5 from 2 votes

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!

Course Main Course, pasta

Cuisine north american

Prep Time 20

Cook Time 40

Total Time 1

Servings servings

Calories 485kcal

Author Alexandria Drzazgowski

Equipment

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 9x13 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 9x13 in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, until the shrimp is cooked all the way through and the mozzarella is melted.
Enjoy!

Notes

Recipe copyright The Foreign Fork. For educational or personal use only.

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.

Nutrition