Tortellini Spinach bake with Creamy Lemon Sauce

I heart pasta dishes! So filling, so easy, and so versatile! I found this recipe on Our Best Bites, which is one of my favorite food blogs to follow! It looked divine and so I vowed to make it! I changed mine up just a little and we all just loved it! I served it with the Homemade Rosemary Bread that I love to make! (you can find the recipe for the bread, by clicking on the label bread over in the tool bar on the side of this blog). 

Tortellini Spinach Bake with Creamy Lemon Sauce

recipe adapted slightly from Our Best Bites

12 oz bag frozen cheese tortellini

1/2 lb bacon

2 cloves garlic, finely minced

2 T flour

2 C. milk

1 tsp salt\
1/2 tsp garlic salt

1 tsp black pepper

2 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 medium lemon

2 c loosely packed spinach, roughly chopped

1 c. grated mozzarella cheese, divided

1 c. grated parmesan cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Fill a large stockpot with water and bring to a boil, add torellini and cook according to package directions. Cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon from pan and reserve 2 T of the bacon drippings in the pan. Cook garlic in the bacon drippings over medium high heat until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add flour to pan and whisk for about 1 minute.  Slowly add milk and whisk until smooth. Add salt, pepper, garlic salt, red pepper flakes and bring sauce to a simmer.

While sauce is heating, zest and juice lemon. Add 2 tsp zest and 2 T lemon juice to sauce, and stir until thickened, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.
Drain tortellini and place back in pot. Add spinach, 1/2 c mozzarella cheese, bacon, and 1/2 c parmesan cheese. Add sauce and gently stir to incorporate. place pasta in a 9/13 casserole dish and cover with the remaining parmesan and mozzarella cheeses. *I also added a 2 cups of shredded rotisserie chicken to make this a full meal*
Cover for foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes, until cheese is melted and bubbly. Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.