Turkey, Spinach & Tomato Pasta Bake

I’ve been talking a lot about routines recently, probably because ours is changing. A few days back in the office for J a week for the first time since February 2020 means a few changes for us at home, but it also means a few nights a week I can’t just make whatever I want for dinner anymore, I need to make something that can be done ahead and can be eaten at anytime, regardless of what time he walks in the door or if I’ve had to go pick him up from somewhere because something has gone wrong with the trains.

For his first day I made one of both of our favourites, my Slow Cooker Sausage & Butter Bean Casserole which happily blipped away until we were both ready – it turned out I ended up working longer on that day out of the both of us and it was a total life saver. So, today I thought I’d return to something I used to make a lot when we lived in West London, J went into the office every day and I had only just gone full time with food blogging: this Turkey, Tomato & Spinach Pasta Bake.

It is no secret I’m a fan of Julia Turshen’s recipes – her veggie lasagna, caesar salad dressing, pickled jalapeno steak relish, and coriander coconut chutney all have permanent homes in my cooking rotation – and this recipe is another I’ve loosely adapted (read: changed up to suit just the two of us and the differences between British and American ingredients) from her second solo cookbook Now & Again: Go-To Recipes, Inspired Menus + Endless Ideas for Reinventing Leftovers (ad), a brilliant collection of menus with recipes for what to do with the leftovers the next day. It’s light, hearty, relatively healthy and makes great leftovers: say hello to your new favourite pasta bake.

What sort of spinach should I use?

Actually, yes. I usually buy regular frozen spinach but I accidentally picked up a bag of chopped frozen spinach once and I find it has a really slimy texture and it is really hard to remove all the water from, even though it was the same supermarket brand. Whilst frozen chopped spinach may be good for saag aloo, stick to regular frozen spinach here.

If you’ve got some fresh to use up, wilt it down in a frying pan with a splash of oil over a medium heat before combining it with the creme fraiche and cheese.

Does it matter what sort of turkey mince I use?

While you’ll still get a tasty pasta bake, try to buy turkey thigh mince rather than turkey breast mince, which has much less fat or flavour which may be a little dryer. Don’t worry if you’re trying to be healthy – they’re both relatively lean options! For my American readers ground chicken would also work great here, you’re looking for between 5%-10% fat for a nice moist pasta bake.

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