Eat This!! Baked Pasta With Pancetta and Spinach

Ballerina in waiting.  All those car rides yield magical moments like this.

Every house has the day.  The day does not end until 10pm.  The day leaves no room whatsoever for error.  The day you watched other mothers endure and swore you would run your household so you never had a day like this.  In the Kingdom we call this day Tuesday.

The kids are picked up a 3pm from school.  Get home, have a snack, and begin homework.  At 3:30 the piano teacher arrives and the Contessa begins her lesson.  Count Jr. finishes his homework and reads or plays outside.  Contessa finishes her lesson at about 4:15, and the Count Jr. begins his piano lesson.  The Contessa heads upstairs and changes for dance.  For no apparent reason it takes forever for her to change, but when she emerges her hair is put in the mandatory bun, she checks her dance bag to make sure she has everything she needs, and once that's done it's back to the homework.  By about 5pm the piano teacher has taken her leave and if homework is done there is a little down time.  At 5:20 we all pile into the car to take the Contessa to her 5:30 jazz class.  Now things really get interesting.  After returning from the dance drop off Count Jr.s homework continues if necessary and we finish making dinner.  At 6:30pm the Contessa is picked up from dance, where she has already changed into the street clothes that were in her dance bag along with the ID card and music she needs for her weekly rehearsal with the Metropolitan Youth Orchestra Children's Treble Choir.  With pedal to the medal we drive 7.50 miles to make the 6:45 rehearsal.  At 8:45pm she emerges from rehearsal and we drive home.  So what's missing from this picture?  That's right, DINNER.

If the Contessa had her wish we'd stop at Wendy's or Taco Bell on the way to rehearsal and pick up dinner, but the Countess is having none of it.  So the Kingdom is part of a growing number of folks who have to serve dinner to all or part of their family in the car, en route to an activity.  We don't love things like wraps and burritos in the car because while they are portable there is the obvious risk factor that much of it will end up in your car rather than in your child's stomach.  Something satisfying and easy to eat en route is in order, and the Contessa finds the recipe below fits the bill.

Baked Pasta with Pancetta and Spinach
From the Kitchen Sink Recipes

1 pound of ziti, rigatoni or other tubular pasta1 thick-cut slice of pancetta, diced (about one cup, many stores carry this already diced)

1 onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes

1 8-ounce container of mascarpone (if unavailable, use the equivalent of cream cheese)
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 box/bag of fresh baby spinach (if unavailable, use one box of well drained, frozen, leaf spinach)

1 ball of fresh mozzarella (approximately 8 to 10 ounces), thinly sliced or torn into shredded-like pieces

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Grease a baking dish (a 9 x 13-inch pan, 2 quart baking dish or similarly-sized dish will work).

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a couple big pinches of salt to the water, add the ziti and boil until the pasta is still shy of al dente . Drain the pasta, return it to the pot and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat a large, deep skillet (or sauce pan) over medium heat. Add the diced pancetta and cook until the pancetta is browned and has let off some grease, about five minutes. If the pancetta sticks to the pan, add a little olive oil. Add the diced onions and minced garlic; cook for a few minutes, stirring. Add the tomatoes to the onion/pancetta mixture and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes. Add the mascarpone and vinegar to the tomato sauce, stirring until the cheese has completely melted. Add the spinach to the pan (you may need to do this a little at a time, depending on the size of your skillet), stirring until the spinach has wilted. Salt the sauce to taste, if necessary.

Pour the tomato-spinach sauce over the reserved/cooked pasta. Stir to coat all the pasta with tomato sauce. Transfer the pasta to the prepared lasagna pan, spreading the pasta evenly in the pan. Top with the mozzarella, scattering the mozzarella evenly over the pasta.

Bake the pasta, uncovered, for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling a bit at the edges and the cheese is golden brown. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes or so before serving.