By: Teresa Genaro;

Like many kids, I wasn’t much fond of spinach and broccoli when I was little. I did fine with peas and green beans and carrots, but I turned up my nose at spinach and broccoli.

At my aunt’s one day, when I was about seven, I was served a plate of pasta with some green stuff in it. I asked what it was, I was told it was parsley, and I contentedly ate it.

Of course, it was not parsley; it was spinach, as I learned several years later, when my mother shared this recipe with me. I don’t think that either she or my aunt was particularly adamant about getting spinach into me; their subterfuge was less about nutrition than about taste. I think that this was just a dish that they liked, and they didn’t want to make it without the spinach.

It’s incredibly easy to make; it serves a crowd with minimal effort; it freezes well; it tastes great; and it doesn’t cost very much. You can prepare the dish a day or two ahead of time and pop it in the oven 30 – 40 minutes before serving.

A few words about the ingredients:

The sauce: You can of course make your own, and I often do, but if you want something easy, you can get away with jarred sauce in a recipe like this. I’ve included below a recipe for marinara sauce, and to keep the ease factor high, make a bunch at one time and freeze it, taking it out to use on occasions like this.

The vegetables: Thank goodness that last year Mark Bittman in the New York Times took us all off the hook for using frozen vegetables. As he wrote, they’re just as nutritious as fresh, and it doesn’t matter whether you buy a name brand or a store brand. I have used frozen vegetables with enthusiasm and without guilt ever since. I know that he specifically names broccoli and spinach as vegetables it’s easy to use fresh, but again, in a recipe like this, I don’t think it matters. If it matters to you, you can pre-cook the vegetables and then add them to the pasta, but it takes some of the ease out of the recipe.

Mama Genaro’s Baked Pasta

• One pound of the pasta of your choice. I like to use something for the vegetables to stick to and crawl into, like shells, but you can use whatever you like, or whatever’s in the house.
• The equivalent of one 16 oz. jar of marinara sauce
• One package of frozen broccoli, defrosted and drained
• One package of frozen spinach, defrosted and with excess water squeezed out
• One 15 oz container of good ricotta cheese
• One 16 oz block of good mozzarella cheese, sliced into ¼” slices
• Grated parmesan or romano cheese

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cook the pasta in salted water until it’s not quite done, probably about ten to twelve minutes, depending on the type of pasta you’re cooking.

As the pasta is cooking, slice the mozzarella and prepare the vegetables; defrost them in a microwave, or if they’re already defrosted, drain them.

Mix the vegetables, sauce, and ricotta cheese in a large bowl and set aside. If you want to eliminate another dish to wash, keep the ingredients separate and mix them individually with the pasta.

When the pasta is finished, drain it and pour it into a disposable aluminum baking pan—12” by 10” and about an inch and a half deep. Add the vegetables, sauce, and ricotta, turning well so that the ingredients are evenly mixed.

Top the pasta mixture evenly with the slices of mozzarella.

Bake the dish for about 20 – 30 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the ingredients are heated through. Serve in pasta bowls, topping to taste with grated cheese.

If you going from refrigerator to oven, you will probably need 30 – 40 minutes in the oven, so that the ingredients are heated through.

Easy marinara sauce

This is the most basic of tomato sauces; I prefer sauce with some meat and other vegetables, but if you need a decent sauce quickly, this will do.

• Olive oil
• Two cloves of garlic, chopped
• One small onion, chopped
• One 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• ¼ cup chopped fresh basil (use dried if you can’t find any, or use basil-infused tomatoes)
• ¼ cup red wine

In large sauce pan over low heat, sauté the garlic and onion for about five minutes, until the onion is translucent.

Add the canned tomatoes and basil, and cook for about ten minutes.

Add the red wine and cook for five minutes more.