Spinach Pasta Bake

I'm a huge fan of pasta and had been craving lasagna or stuffed shells. My mom and I adapted a spinach and artichoke dip recipe and started using that as a substitute for the traditional ricotta and mozzarella cheese mixture we typically use in these dishes. The other night I was feeling a little to lazy to layer a lasagna or stuff shells so I just used some bow tie pasta I had in the pantry and threw it all together in one pot. It tasted just as good as a lasagna and took half the time!

Spinach Pasta Bake

Ingredients

• 1 lb. pasta (ziti, penne, bow tie, whatever you like)
• 1 jar pasta sauce
• 8 oz. part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
• 10-12 oz. frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 tsp. garlic powder

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. Cook pasta according to package directions. Once cooked, drain and return to pot with enough sauce to coat pasta (this will keep them from sticking together).
3. Mix together 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, yogurt, spinach and garlic powder.
4. Add spinach/cheese mixture to pasta and mix well.
5. Spread a layer of sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 pan. Add pasta mixture. Top with more sauce and remaining mozzarella cheese.
6. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until cheese is bubbly.