Baked Rigatoni with Spinach and Ricotta

I love baked pasta!  What can be better than cheesy pasta, baked till it is warm and bubbly??? This recipe is easy, quick, healthy (spinach and chicken count here, right?) and oh so tasty. Enjoy!

Ingredients

1/2 pound rigatoni

2 tablespoons olive oil

5 ounces frozen spinach, thawed

1 cup ricotta (I used part-skim milk ricotta)

6 tablespoons grated Parmesan

1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg

1 1/2 cups cooked chicken, diced

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper

Direction

Heat the oven to 450°. Oil a 9-by-13-inch baking dish.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the rigatoni until almost done, about 12 minutes. Drain. Put the pasta in the prepared baking dish and toss with 1/2 tablespoon of the oil.

Meanwhile, squeeze as much of the water as possible from the spinach. Stir together the spinach in with the ricotta, 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan, the nutmeg, chicken, salt, and pepper.

Stir the spinach mixture into the pasta. Top with the remaining Parmesan. Drizzle the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons oil over the top. Bake the pasta until the top is golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. 

Serves: 3-4