{"id":18049,"date":"2014-02-24T01:45:39","date_gmt":"2014-02-24T06:45:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=18049"},"modified":"2014-02-24T01:56:16","modified_gmt":"2014-02-24T06:56:16","slug":"asparagus-pasta-bake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2014\/02\/24\/asparagus-pasta-bake\/","title":{"rendered":"Asparagus Pasta Bake"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Have you noticed? \u00a0In the produce department, we are starting to see the return of the spring vegetables! \u00a0Hip-hip-hooray! \u00a0Oh, don\u2019t get me wrong&#8230;I love winter veggies, too! \u00a0If you have followed the Monday installment of the At Home w\/ GCH blog for any length of time, you KNOW we are big fans of butternut squash, brussels sprouts, and other winter veggies. \u00a0But, it\u2019s almost spring! \u00a0So here we go! For the next few weeks, we will do a mini-series featuring spring vegetables&#8230; starting today with asparagus! \u00a0Oh, yum! \u00a0Today\u2019s recipe features asparagus in a pasta bake. \u00a0This recipe could also be prepared using lasagna noodles, if you prefer.<\/p>\n<p>A question and a tip for our gluten-free friends: Have you tried the new pasta that RONZONI has recently brought to the market? \u00a0It is fantastic! \u00a0Truly the best gluten-free pasta we have tried (and we have tried m-a-n-y different brands). \u00a0It is a multi-grain blend of white rice, brown rice, corn, and quinoa. \u00a0It cooks up well, holds sauce well, bakes well, even reheats fairly well! \u00a0Now it is still pasta so, of course, it has carbs! \u00a0But a serving, according to the facts label on the box, has 2g of fiber (8% DV) and 4g of protein even. I highly recommend this product.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2014-02-23-22.10.12.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-18070\" alt=\"2014-02-23 22.10.12\" src=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2014-02-23-22.10.12-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2014-02-23-22.10.12-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2014-02-23-22.10.12.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #008000;\">Asparagus Pasta Bake<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><strong><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Ingredients<\/span><\/strong>:<\/p>\n<p>1 (12 ounce) box gluten free penne pasta<a href=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2014-02-23-20.50.20.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-18072\" alt=\"2014-02-23 20.50.20\" src=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2014-02-23-20.50.20-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2014-02-23-20.50.20-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2014-02-23-20.50.20.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><br \/>\n1 (15 ounce) jar alfredo sauce (I use \u2018Classico\u2019 brand; has no additives)<br \/>\n1 cup chicken or vegetable broth<br \/>\n2 tablespoons olive oil<br \/>\n1\/2 cup sliced sun-dried tomatoes<br \/>\n1\/2 cup fresh basil leaves, packed<br \/>\n1 cup baby spinach, packed<br \/>\n1\/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus additional 1\/2 cup<br \/>\n1 medium onion, diced<br \/>\n1# asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces<br \/>\n2 tablespoons chopped garlic (I use jarred)<br \/>\n1 large egg<br \/>\n1 (15-ounce) container part skim ricotta cheese<br \/>\n1 tablespoon dried basil<br \/>\n1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper<br \/>\n2 cups shredded part skim mozzarella cheese, divided<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><strong>Directions<\/strong><\/span>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Pasta: \u00a0Cook pasta following directions on box. Drain and set aside.<\/li>\n<li>Preheat oven to 350.<\/li>\n<li>Heat the Alfredo sauce and the chicken broth together. Set aside.<\/li>\n<li>In a food processor combine the sun-dried tomatoes, basil, and baby spinach. Pulse until the mixture is combined.<\/li>\n<li>In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the egg and then add in the ricotta, dried basil, 1 cup of shredded mozzarella, and freshly ground pepper. \u00a0Stir well; then add in the sun-dried tomato mixture. \u00a0Set aside.<\/li>\n<li>In a large saute pan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the diced onion, and cook 4-5 minutes.<\/li>\n<li>Add in the cut up asparagus and cook \u2018til still crisp-tender, another 5 minutes or so.<\/li>\n<li>And finally add in the chopped garlic and cook for 1 more minute, stirring constantly. Turn heat off.<\/li>\n<li>In a 9 by 13-inch baking dish, ladle about 1\/2 cup of the heated alfredo sauce onto the bottom; spread to cover. Place 1\/3 of the cooked pasta, then 1\/3 of the ricotta mixture, 1\/3 of the cooked veggies, and a sprinkling of shredded mozzarella. Repeat this in order for 2 additional layers.<\/li>\n<li>Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake until the ingredients are just starting to bubble and the cheeses are melting, about 25 minutes.<\/li>\n<li>Remove the foil and bump heat up to 425 and heat for 5 more minutes.<\/li>\n<li>Remove from oven and let set for 10 minutes; then serve with additional sauce and shredded parmesan alongside. \u00a0Enjoy!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2014-02-23-22.13.10.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-18073\" alt=\"2014-02-23 22.13.10\" src=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2014-02-23-22.13.10-300x225.jpg\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2014-02-23-22.13.10-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2014-02-23-22.13.10.jpg 960w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<span style=\"color: #008000;\">\u2665\u00a0 \u2665\u00a0 \u2665\u00a0 \u2665\u00a0 \u2665<\/span><\/p>\n<p>God loves you!\u00a0\u00a0<span style=\"color: #008000;\">\u2665\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>(Don\u2019t ever forget that!)<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #008000;\">\u2665\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0coleen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Have you noticed? \u00a0In the produce department, we are starting to see the return of the spring vegetables! \u00a0Hip-hip-hooray! \u00a0Oh, don\u2019t get me wrong&#8230;I love winter veggies, too! \u00a0If you have followed the Monday installment of the At Home w\/ GCH blog for any length of time, you KNOW we are big fans of butternut [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":18073,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[15],"tags":[5613,3038,235,1287,425,5617,1897,483,595,743,5614],"class_list":["post-18049","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-at-home-with-gch","tag-asparagus","tag-at-home-w-gch","tag-coleen-hayden","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-gluten-free-pasta","tag-gluten-free","tag-healthy-but-oh-so-yummy","tag-lasagna","tag-pasta","tag-sundried-tomatoes","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/02\/2014-02-23-22.13.10.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-4H7","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18049","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18049"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18049\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18074,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18049\/revisions\/18074"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18049"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18049"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18049"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}