Baked Goat Cheese Pasta
Published 2/18/2021 • Updated 3/17/2024
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This baked goat cheese pasta is so creamy and delicious that you’ll add it to your weekly dinner menu. It is a hands-off recipe that the whole family will love. Plus, you get a good serving of veggies, too!
Baked Goat Cheese Pasta FTW!
Have you made the ever-so-popular baked feta pasta dish that everyone is raving about and you’re looking for another delicious pasta dish that is just as easy?
This baked goat cheese pasta is another variation of an easy baked pasta dish, but with goat cheese and more veggies!
And? If you’re a goat cheese lover, this pasta is definitely for you! Goat cheese is so creamy and delicious, we seriously can’t get enough of this pasta.
Ingredients for Goat Cheese Pasta
- Goat Cheese- The star of this baked goat cheese pasta is the GOAT CHEESE, duh. You can find 4-oz. goat cheese logs at most grocery stores! It is creamy, delicious, and tart!
- Olive Oil – Don’t forget the olive oil, it adds the fat that you need to balance this dish out and amazing olive oil flavor.
- Tomatoes– Cherry tomatoes are also essential to this dish. They will roast to perfection and then burst to create a delicious tomato sauce.
- Green Onions – You can use any onions in this dish, but we trim the white ends from the green tops. Then, we slice the white ends into strips and bake them and save the green tops for garnish. SO delish.
- Garlic – Don’t skip the garlic, it’s just magical.
- Red Wine – If there’s anything that adds a little depth to a pasta sauce it’s red wine! Don’t have red wine? Use white wine!
- Fresh Spinach– Adding a healthy serving of spinach to this dish with spinach is always a good idea! No reason to cook the spinach ahead of time, it wilts in the hot sauce in minutes!
- Pasta Water– Be sure you don’t skip setting aside some pasta water when you’re preparing your pasta. You will add the pasta water to the pasta sauce to thicken it and to wilt your spinach.
Different types of goat cheese
When you are shopping for goat cheese you will notice a few things! There are different sizes of goat cheese logs and also different flavors! Here are some things to keep in mind when you’re shopping for goat cheese.
Goat cheese usually comes in 4-oz. logs and 8-oz. logs. We used a 4-oz. log for this recipe, but if you want your pasta extra cheesy, don’t be scared to go big!
You will notice that there are different flavors of goat cheese at the grocery store. We used plain, but you can buy a honey goat cheese, herby goat cheese, or other delicious flavors. Add something fun to the pasta by choosing a different flavor.
How to Make Baked Goat Cheese Pasta
There are only a few steps to take before you can enjoy a big creamy bowl of this baked goat cheese pasta! You won’t believe how easy it is to make!
Add Everything to Casserole Dish
Grab your favorite casserole dish (one that has a cover if you have it!) and throw your tomatoes, onions, garlic, olive oil, red wine, goat cheese, salt, and pepper into the casserole dish!
Our Favorite
Casserole Dish
This le creuset casserole dish is our all time favorite casserole dish! The white color rocks, it has a cover, and it’s great for so many dishes.
Mix + Season
Be sure to use your hands or a spatula to toss everything together until the tomatoes are coated in wine and oil. YUM.
Bake
Place the casserole dish into the oven and bake for 40-45 minutes or until the tomatoes in the casserole dish have burst!
Prepare Pasta
While the pasta sauce bakes, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Stir your pasta regularly so that it doesn’t stick to the bottom and cook it until it is al dente!
Don’t forget! Set aside 1 cup of the pasta water for later. You are going to use the water in your pasta sauce!
Make the Sauce
Remove the casserole dish from the oven and smash the goat cheese with a fork or a spatula and then mix everything together into a creamy sauce.
Do this quickly because you need the sauce to stay hot so that the spinach will wilt.
Add Spinach
Add the spinach to the casserole dish, pour in the pasta water, mix, and cover the casserole dish for 5 minutes to allow the spinach to wilt.
Uncover the casserole dish and stir everything together!
Stir in Pasta
Add pasta to the spinach and goat cheese sauce, stir, and enjoy!
Goat Cheese Pasta Variations
Add a protein. Feel free to add any protein that you’d like into this pasta dish! Top the pasta with pan seared chicken, slices of left over steak, shrimp, or tofu!
More veggies. We chose spinach because it wilts in a short amount of time. Feel free to substitute the spinach for kale or toss some sliced bell peppers into the casserole dish when there is about 20 minutes left of the bake time!
Spice it up. Like an extra kick when you’re eating pasta! Sprinkle your pasta with some red pepper flakes!
all about the pasta
Not sure what type of pasta to use? Any pasta will do because this sauce is so delicious. We suggest using a pasta like fussili or rigatoni so that the sauce gets stuck in all the nooks and crannies. More sauce = happy people.
How to Store Goat Cheese Pasta
After your goat cheese pasta has cooled completely, place the pasta in an air tight container and store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Baked Goat Cheese Pasta
Ingredients
- 2 pints cherry tomatoes
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup red wine
- 6 green onions, white part separated from the green and cut into slices
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
- 4 oz. goat cheese
- 1/2 cup pasta water
- 10 oz. fresh spinach
- 8 oz. dried pasta
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
- Pour 2 pints of cherry tomatoes into a 9×13-inch casserole dish.
- Drizzle olive oil over the cherry tomatoes and toss until all the tomatoes are coated in oil.
- Add the red wine, garlic, and white part of the green onion into the baking dish and toss.
- Next, place a block of goat cheese into the middle of the casserole dish.
- Bake the goat cheese dish at 400ºF for 40 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add pasta.
- Cook the pasta until it is cooked to al dente.
- Before pouring the pasta into a strainer remove 1 cup of pasta water from the pot and set aside.
- Strain pasta and set aside.
- Remove the goat cheese bake from the oven and smash the goat cheese with a fork or spatula.
- Smash the remaining tomatoes and stir the goat cheese and tomatoes together until it forms a creamy pasta.
- Add 10-oz. of spinach to the casserole dish and then pour 1/2 cup of pasta water to the dish and toss.
- Cover the casserole dish for 5 minutes so that the spinach wilts.
- Remove covered toss and then add the pasta to the casserole dish and mix until the pasta is coated in sauce.
- Serve with fresh cracked black pepper and enjoy.
Watch It
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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super delicious recipe, when i made it first i was stunned by the complexity and depth that comes from caramelizing the tomatoes and the sweetness from the green onion + using soft goat cheese imparts a gorgeous flavour & creaminess. keep coming back to it, so grateful to have found!
OMG right?! The caramelized tomato and onion flavor can’t be beat!