Easy Cheesy Vegetarian Pasta Skillet
Meatless Monday is now the best night of the week! Easy Cheesy Vegetarian Pasta Skillet has it all — artichokes, mushrooms, sweet bell pepper, onion, and spinach, all nestled together in a beautifully cheesy pan full of pasta.
Servings 6 people
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 8 oz fresh mushrooms sliced
- 1 sweet bell pepper diced
- ½ of a medium yellow onion diced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic about 6 cloves
- 12 oz box of farfalle bowtie pasta
- 8 oz fresh spinach roughly chopped
- ½ of a 12 oz jar of marinated artichoke hearts chopped
- 2 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 24 oz jar marinara
- 8 oz ricotta
- 4 oz shredded mozzarella
Instructions
- Start salted water boiling for the pasta. Cut up your onion, mushrooms, bell pepper, and garlic.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and pepper and saute for two minutes, then stir in the mushrooms and continue to saute over medium heat for another eight minutes, or until mushrooms are browned and softened.
- While the mushrooms are cooking, shred your mozzarella (if not using pre-shredded), chop the spinach and the artichokes, and cook pasta al dente according to package directions.
- Drain the pasta when it has finished cooking, then return to its pot.
- Once the mushrooms are browned, stir the spinach, garlic, and seasonings into the skillet until the spinach is just wilted.
- Once the spinach has wilted, reduce the heat to medium low under the skillet. Stir in the artichokes, then stir in the pasta sauce and ricotta until the ricotta is melted and incorporated into the sauce.
- Stir the cooked pasta into the veggies and sauce until nicely combined, then spread it out evenly in the pan. Top everything with shredded mozzarella.
- Cover the skillet. Continue to cook over medium-low heat for another five minutes to melt the mozzarella, then serve.
Notes
I again used ALDI’s Reggano simply marinara sauce here, because it’s flavorful, affordable, and contains no added sugars. Even with prepared sauce, though, I always like to punch things up a little with extra garlic and oregano.