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Caprese Pesto Pasta Bake, a fresh and easy spring dinner the entire family will enjoy. Pasta tossed with slowly roasted cherry tomatoes, basil pesto, burrata cheese, and prosciutto. All baked until the cheese is melty and the prosciutto extra crisp. The perfect spring pasta bake that’s melt in your mouth good. Sure to be a dinner you’ll make on repeat!
This post is sponsored by Pyrex.
I am slightly getting ahead of the season with this caprese pesto pasta, but the springtime tomatoes have arrived, and I was just way too excited! I decided to bake this pasta up for a recent (and very much needed) girl’s night with my mom and little sister.
Lately I have been non-stop cooking. So I really wanted to create something simple, but of course delicious. Something I knew that all of us girls would absolutely love. The very first thing to come to mind was a pasta bake. Growing up my dad’s Friday Night Pasta Bake was my very favorite dinner. Such a delicious family dinner at the end of a long school week. To this day it is still one of my favorites.
If it would have just been me, I probably would have baked that up. Instead, I decided to get creative with the ingredients I had on hand. I chose ingredients I knew all of us would love. Enter in pasta, fresh tomatoes, plenty of basil, and burrata cheese.
Basically, all the Gerard girl’s favorites. Anyone else feel the same?
Asher, my little sister is a relatively good eater, and loves tomatoes, spinach, and basil. Since she wiggled her way into our girl’s night, I knew I’d include these in our pasta. I love that Asher will eat color. Sure she loves the typical kid’s foods, like pasta with butter, and good ole’ ramen, but she’s also big on things like carrots, tomatoes, and spinach.
I like to make her try something new every time she comes to hang out at the studio with me…I just need to bribe her with a little chocolate first.
Once I decided on a pasta bake for our dinner of choice, I knew right away that my new Pyrex Deep baking dish would be perfect to show off the beautiful layers and colors of this pasta. The new Pyrex Deep baking dishes are the deepest glass baking dish out there. They hold up to 50% more than any current glass bakeware. Obviously, they’re perfect for things like pasta bakes and lasagna, but I can’t wait to make my favorite layered desserts in these baking dishes too! You can find Pyrex Deep baking dishes at Walmart and Pyrex.
My favorite part about these deeper baking dishes though? None of my fillings bubble out over the sides of the dish during baking. Something I always have an issue with. Since I’m often feeding a crowd over here, I tend to really pack ingredients into whatever I am baking. Especially when it comes to things like mac and cheese, lasagna and roasts. No bubbling over, means zero mess in the oven.
Yes, please.
This pasta dish comes together pretty quickly. And I love that it uses fresh cherry tomatoes, which finally started popping up in the store a couple of weeks ago. So excited about these early spring tomatoes.
The first step is to roast the tomatoes. Since these are early spring tomatoes they’re not as sweet as a summer tomatoes. Therefore I love bringing out their sweetness by pan roasting them with olive oil, garlic, and herbs. This is one of my favorite ways to prepare tomatoes – so good.
While the tomatoes are roasting, boil you favorite short cut pasta. Toss the pasta with basil pesto, spinach, and some mozzarella or burrata cheese. Next, add in the cherry tomatoes, spoon everything into that Pyrex Deep baking dish, and add a bit more cheese. Then top with prosciutto (which you can easily leave off if you’d like to keep this vegetarian) and bake! Twenty minutes later the cheese will be melted, the prosciutto crisp, your kitchen will smell like herby goodness, and dinner will be done!
This was so fun to make, as I had Asher in the kitchen with me the entire time. She came over a little early, to help me throw this together and to set up for our movie. Plus, she really just wanted to snag some Malley’s Chocolate and begged me to make her a virgin margarita, her favorite…
This was the perfect pasta for our girl’s night. It’s a pasta dish that EVERYONE can and will love. And it’s so pretty too!
Now, the serious question, what is your girl’s night cocktail and movie of choice? Mom and I made these strawberry palomas We all watched Beauty and the Beast (because neither Asher nor I had ever seen it!).
Please, please, please let me know. We need new ideas for our next pasta and movie night!
If you make this caprese pesto pasta, be sure to leave a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! Above all, I love to hear from you guys and always do my best to respond to each and every comment. And of course, if you do make this recipe, don’t forget to also tag me on Instagram! Looking through the photos of recipes you all have made is my favorite!
Caprese Pesto Pasta Bake
Servings: 6
Calories Per Serving: 526 kcal
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
Ingredients
- 3 cups cherry tomatoes
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced or grated
- 1/3 cup fresh chopped herbs, such as thyme or oregano (I like a mix of both)
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 1 pound short cut pasta
- 3/4 cup basil pesto, homemade or store-bought
- 2-3 cup fresh baby spinach
- 8 ounces shredded or torn mozzarella or burrata cheese
- 3 ounces thinly sliced prosciutto (optional)
- fresh basil, for serving
Instructions
- 1. 1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13-inch Pyrex Deep baking dish with cooking spray. 2. Cover the bottom of your Pyrex dish with olive oil. In the pan, toss together the cherry tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, herbs, crushed red pepper flakes, and a large pinch of salt and pepper. Transfer to the oven and roast for 10-15 minutes or until the tomatoes collapse. 3. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain and add the pasta back to the pot. Immediately toss with the pesto, spinach, and half of the cheese. Add the tomatoes and all the juices from the tomatoes and gently toss to combine. Season with freshly ground black pepper and salt. Transfer the pasta back into the Pyrex dish used to roast the tomatoes. 4. Evenly sprinkle the remaining cheese over top the pasta, arrange the prosciutto, if using, over the cheese. Transfer to the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cheese has melted and the prosciutto is crisp. Remove from the oven and garnish with fresh basil. Enjoy!
{This post is sponsored by Pyrex. Thank you for supporting the brands that keep Half Baked Harvest cooking!}
Just made this last night and it was delicious! So easy and roasting the tomatoes in the olive oil with the garlic and herbs first really gives it so much flavor. Will definitely make this again!
I am so glad you loved this! Thank you Jackie! xTieghan
I loved this recipe! Although it looks and tastes decadent, it is so, so, so easy to make. I love the hint of spice from the red pepper flakes and how crispy the prosciutto gets. I added a little less pesto and a touch of pasta sauce. Keep them coming!!!!
Thank you Ally! xTieghan
Can you reheat this in the microwave? I want to bring leftovers to work!
Hi there! Of course you can reheat in the microwave! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
I save this recipe for when we have dinner guests because it is easy and delicious! Thank you for sharing!
Thank you so much Allie! xTieghan
I made this last night for 2 dozen people. It was a huge hit. I didn’t use her pesto recipe, just my intuition pesto. I also made some bruschetta for the side. This has become my favorite blog for recipes!
So glad you’re loving this Rose! Thank you! xTieghan
I cannot wait to try this! My bf is not a fan of cherry tomatoes… any idea what I can sub in place of them? Thanks for all of your awesome recipes!
Hi there! Use a vegetable he loves. Anything will work, broccoli. cauliflower, asparagus, bell pepper! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Just made this and it’s sooo good!! Quick question: Should I lower the oven temp when I pop it back in with the pasta? Noticed the spinach really wilted and got bitter right away. I had to take it out and didn’t have enough time for the burrata to melt (still good though!) thanks!
HI Nic! I don’t lower the oven temp, but it’s possible your oven runs a bit hotter than mine? Next time just reduce the temp to 375 if you think that might work better for you. Please let me know if you have any other questions. So glad you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
Made it for the first time today, so light and delicious! Will definitely make again
Thank you Arlene! xTieghan
I made this last night and it was amazing! Such a treat! And lots of leftovers 🙂 Thanks for all your wonderful recipes! I posted a picture under Nevernuff on Instagram!
Thank you Jane! xTieghan
This was delicious! I forgot to buy prosciutto so added the bread cubes and it was soooo good! Taking some leftovers to work to share with my coworker who loves your stuff!
Thank you Brittany! xTieghan
This was so flavourful and made an outrageous amount (this is a good thing- lunches for the week!). I tried the bread hack I saw on your insta stories to make this vegetarian and it was perfect! I wish I could find buratta here but the shredded mozzarella was delicious. Will definitely keep this one on standby for family dinner nights!
Perfect! I am so glad you enjoyed this Laura! Thank you! xTieghan
Loved this recipe! I made this in my large cast iron (sorry, Pyrex ☺️) and we all thought it was delicious, including my 9 month old!
Love that! Thank you so much Chelsea! xTieghan
Made this and it was amazing! We used prosciutto which was super yummy and crispy but we ate it all in one sitting. Do you suggest another kind of meat to use for leftovers? I was thinking maybe spicy Italian sausage crumbles.
Italian sausage will be so delicious! Please let me know if you have any other questions. I hope you love this recipe! Thank you! xTieghan
We almost invited dinner guests when I made this but I’m so grateful we did not. With guests, my husband and i would not have eaten this until we nearly exploded, it was that good!! This was easy to make after being out all day and so very enjoyable to sit and savor. I’ll be making this frequently.
That is so amazing! I am so glad you both loved this recipe, Priscilla! Thank you! xTieghan
Aah, this is very similar to a pasta bake I make often, except I use goat’s cheese instead of mozzarella/burrata, you should try that 🙂
Wow yes I will try that! I hope you try this one as well, Sarah! Thank you! xTieghan