Bridging the gap between seasonal cooking isn’t always easy but this Four Cheese Baked Pasta with Pesto hits all the marks for an easy and delicious meal.

I don’t know about you but I always feel a little lost cooking between the seasons. Oftentimes in the spring, the weather here in northern New England calls for warm and comforting meals but the calendar is almost begging for light and fresh meals like spring risotto with grilled shrimp and cobb salads.

It’s a tough line to walk, especially when we have a fire warming the house in the fireplace and snow still on the ground outside.

So this baked pasta recipe makes the best of this wacky situation. I get to belly up to a warm bowl of cheesy pasta – FOUR types of cheese! – and make pesto with fresh basil, giving me all the warm weather feels, for the dish at the same time.

Ingredients

Here’s the basic shopping list for this recipe. Keep in mind that if you want to shortcut through making your own pesto, go right ahead! Or feel free to use your favorite pesto recipe in place of the one I have here.

It’s an adaptable recipe so let’s keep it simple!

For the basil almond pesto:

• Fresh basil
• Roasted almonds or pine nuts
• Parmesan cheese (grated)
• Garlic cloves
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Red pepper flakes
• Extra virgin olive oil

For the baked pasta:

• Fusilli or another twirly pasta
• Marinara sauce
• Ricotta cheese (whole or part-skim)
• Fresh mozzarella cheese
• Parmesan cheese (grated)
• Goat cheese, crumbled
• Fresh basil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

How to Make this Pesto Pasta Recipe

Not unlike any of the other baked pasta recipes you’ve made in your life, this is one is also pretty straightforward. Here’s what you’re going to do to make it. Be sure to scroll down to the recipe card below for the full ingredient and instructions lists!

STEP 1: Boil your pasta to al dente. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a large casserole dish and spread some sauce on the bottom of the dish.

STEP 2: If you’re making the pesto, blend all of the ingredients except the oil in a food processor. Stream the oil through the feed tube with the processor on. The pesto will loosen up and become glossy.

STEP 3: Mix the cheeses with chopped fresh basil. Stir in some hot pasta water and the rest of the marinara sauce. Mix the cooked pasta into the cheese mixture.

STEP 4: Transfer the pasta to the casserole dish and dollop some of the pesto over the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.

Why Use Pasta Water?

There are a couple of reasons to use pasta water in this baked pasta recipe.

First, the water loosens up a very heavy cheese mixture. This will help the cheese to coat the pasta better when you mix it all together.

Second, pasta water has a lot of starch from the cooked pasta. In most pasta recipes, like this roasted garlic butter pasta, the starchy cooking water will help to create a glossy sauce that sticks to the pasta.

Third, it’s got lots of flavor! Instead of adding plain water to the recipe, you’ll get an extra boost of flavor from the salty, starchy water in your dish.

Ooops! I dumped all of the pasta water!

If you end up pouring the pasta water down the drain before you skim some of it out of the pot – I’ve totally done this before! – use some low-sodium chicken broth in place of the pasta water.

This won’t give you the starchy benefits but you still need liquid the thin out the cheese mixture and it might as well have some flavor.

What We Thought about this Recipe

Honestly, I was completely on the fence about making this recipe at all. I have never been a fan of goat cheese and so I’ve steered clear of any recipes with goat cheese for years.

But I had the chance to do a Zoom cooking meet up* with Dan Pelosi of Grossy Pelosi fame last spring where we’d be making his stuffed shells version of this recipe. And it was a matter of passing on the opportunity or sucking it up and trying a new thing.

So I made it, didn’t skip the goat cheese, and Riley and I both ended up really loving this meal! The goat cheese gives the pasta a subtle tanginess and it wasn’t at all overpowering.

All of the cheese flavors work great together here but the pesto really is the star. It gives a heavy, cheesy baked pasta dish a fresh lift that the meal definitely needs.

More Baked Pasta Recipes You’ll Love

Here are some of our other favorite baked pasta recipes that we’ve made over and over through the years:

• Baked Chicken Parmesan Pasta
• Chicken Stuffed Shells
• Creamy Four Cheese Baked Pasta
• Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cheese
• Three Cheese Lasagna Roll-Ups
• Baked Ziti
• One Pot Cheesy Baked Penne

*Most of the recipe ingredients were supplied by Murray’s with the cost of a ticket to participate.