What’s better than everyone’s favorite oozy, creamy party dip? That very same dip transformed into your next quick weeknight meal. Frozen spinach and canned artichokes—two hard-working ingredients that you should always have around—join forces with penne to live their best cheesy life. And if that isn’t enough, it all comes together in one skillet—no separate pot needed to boil up the pasta—before getting a kiss under the broiler for a burnished finale. It may at times feel like there’s too much or too little liquid, but trust the process (it will also continue to thicken up off-heat). Hot sauce is a must here.
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What you’ll need
Large Straight-Sided Skillet
$200 At Amazon
Box Grater
$12 $9 At Amazon
Chef’s Knife
$115 At Hedley and Bennett
Recipe information
Total Time
40 minutes
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
3
2
3
2½
1
1
8
2
4
2
¼
4
Preparation
Step 1
Heat broiler. Heat 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil in a large high-sided ovenproof skillet over medium. Add 2 large shallots, coarsely chopped, 3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped, and ½ tsp. Diamond Crystal or ¼ tsp. Morton kosher salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are translucent, about 4 minutes. Stir in one 14-oz. can artichoke hearts, drained, coarsely chopped, and one 10-oz. package frozen spinach, thawed, drained.
Step 2
Add 8 oz. penne or other short tube pasta, 2 cups whole milk, 2 tsp. Diamond Crystal or 1 tsp. Morton kosher salt, and 1½ cups water to pan and carefully stir to combine. (The pasta should be mostly submerged.) Increase heat to medium-high; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; simmer, stirring occasionally and adding up to ½ cup water a little at a time as needed if liquid absorbs too quickly, until most of the liquid is absorbed and pasta is al dente, 16–18 minutes.
Step 3
Remove pasta from heat. Add 4 oz. cream cheese, room temperature, cut into pieces, and stir until incorporated. Add 2 oz. Parmesan, finely grated (about 1 cup), and stir until melted and combined. Add ¼ tsp. freshly ground pepper; taste and season with more salt if needed.
Step 4
Scatter 4 oz. part-skim mozzarella, coarsely grated (about 1¼ cups), evenly over pasta. Broil until cheese is melted, golden brown, and bubbling, about 3 minutes (watch it carefully). Let pasta cool slightly (sauce will thicken as it cools).
Step 5
Serve pasta directly from skillet with hot sauce.
Leave a Review
Reviews (7)
Back to TopI did a few of things differently from this recipe… I used fresh spinach (wilted in hot water, shocked in an ice bath, then excess water wrung out), I used cavatappi rather than tube pasta, and I used a squeeze of lemon juice instead of hot sauce to get my acidity. I enjoyed it!
Leigh
Severn, MD
3/31/2024
Works great with gluten free penne.
Anonymous
South Hero, VT
2/28/2024
Instead of water do chicken stock, and add smoked paprika to taste.
Krystal
Osceola WI
2/17/2024
this was very good. needs a very large skillet (started with one and had to up-size to another). could use a little something more seasoning-wise. i'm thinking nutmeg since that would go really well with the spinach & cheese. i'm not a big hot sauce lover, so if you are, the seasoning would probably be fine.
diana
Cincinnati, OH
2/6/2024
I mean, it’s artichoke dip with pasta in it. I doubled the artichokes and browned the onions and added some green onion, but the flavor is pretty basic. I’d prefer just making the dip and putting it on pasta rather than committing to this behemoth of a dish. Fun as a gimmick.
Anonymous
NYC
1/30/2024
This was simple and delicious. Perfect for kids and adults (especially if you a little hot sauce!). I’ll definitely make this again.
Kate
NYC
1/25/2024
Love it! I took it up a step on the second time around to a one-pot "protein" meal by adding two cubed chicken breasts and 1/4 cup crisp bacon.
Erick M.
Columbus OH
1/24/2024