Spinach pasta bake

To prepare spinach pasta bake, start by bringing a potful of salted water to the boil, which you will use to cook the pasta. Rinse the spinach under running water 1, dry it, place it in another pan, cover with a lid 2 and cook on a low flame, without adding any fat, until they wilt: this will take around 5 minutes. In the meantime, remove the crust from the gorgonzola and dice the cheese 3;

place it in a tray and start melting it on a very low flame 4. Add the mascarpone 5 and whisk to stir thoroughly with the gorgonzola; once both melt, add the fresh cream 6 and continue stirring to obtain a smooth and rather liquid cream.

Now add around half of the grated Parmigiano Reggiano 7 and continue stirring to incorporate it, so that a smooth and uniform liquid 8 forms, then remove from the heat. Once the spinach has wilted 9,

place it in a tall and narrow container, add salt, a ladle of the boiling water you will use to cook the pasta 10 and blend with an immersion blender 11 to obtain a cream; place it in a bowl 12.

When the water comes to the boil, add the rigatoni 13 and cook for around 5 minutes (calculate 5 minutes less compared to the cooking time on the packet, as they will finish cooking in the oven). In the meantime preheat the static oven to 350°F (180°C). Now drain the pasta and add it directly to the pan with the cheese sauce, remove from the heat 14, stir to thoroughly coat the pasta in the condiment 15,

then add the thyme leaves 16. Now you are ready to assemble the pasta bake: take a square 8.6" tray and start by adding a first layer of rigatoni 17, a grating of black pepper, then cover the surface with the spinach cream 18

and sprinkle with a generous spoonful of grated Parmigiano Reggiano 19. Repeat in the same order until you run out of ingredients: add more pasta 20, followed by pepper and spinach cream 21

and Parmigiano Reggiano 22. End with a final layer of pasta 23 and cover with the remaining Parmigiano Reggiano 24.

Lastly, add a final pinch of pepper 25 and a drizzle of olive oil 26. Bake the pasta in a static oven preheated to 350°F (180°C). for around 30 minutes, or until the surface becomes nice and golden 27. Your spinach pasta bake is ready to serve!