The soup pot I used was filled mostly to the top. I think part of the problem is that I have a very old, NYC rental apartment oven that sort of does whatever it wants to do... and I also just didn't really want to wait another 10-15 minutes for it to crisp up before eating. Some of the pasta on top was getting crispy, so it was just a matter of time, but eh - couldn't be bothered.

I really do need to drag myself to Stop & Shop at some point, and I know they have Pyrex dishes and stuff like that, so I'll look. Or if I feel really ambitious, and covid doesn't come back with a vengeance, I may make a trip to Bed Bath & Beyond.

I think next time I make it, I want to do it with chorizo or meatballs or something.

Don't stick it under the broiler if you use a Pyrex! I've never cracked one personally but I've heard it's possible.

What's the name of the recipe?

It's essentially a cheesy/creamy baked pasta dish (think baked ziti) with tomato sauce and spinach. No fancy name or anything like that - just easy comfort food.

get an oven thermometers ...they are cheap. You can find out if your oven runs hot or cold and adjust if necessary .

Sorry, thought you got it off the internet where even the simplest recipes have names. It just sounded good.

I did, but it was an Israeli site in Hebrew. It's just like "baked pasta with tomato sauce, cheese, and spinach."

I can appreciate that - I do recall you talking about the translation in your first post. I'm just suffering from recipe fatigue and looking for new ideas. Most of my pasta dishes (and I make many) except for lasagna are stove-top, I don't have much luck with baked dishes, they tend to turn dry on me so I was hoping for some insight. I'm thinking adding the spinach adds some moisture, so I'll try that next time.

This is the link, if it's of interest. If it appeals to you I suppose I could translate it at some point when I have down time (or you could try Google Translate and see if that works):

In many dishes...either sweet or savory, fat and sugar are responsible for a lot of keeping things from tasting dry. Also, keeping a cover on while baking helps.

It's just baked pasta for me that's a problem.

And no need to translate anything, OP, one picture (video) was truly worth 1,000 words.

When you bake the pasta, how do you cook it? This recipe stressed not to cook the pasta all the way through on the stove, but to leave it a bit tough in the center (al dente), as it will finish cooking in the oven.

For me, the pasta came out very nice and meaty, although I frankly would have liked it to be a bit drier/crispier on top. That's something I can fix next time by just raising the oven temp from 350 to 375 and cooking a bit longer, I think.

Fwiw: it was very good as leftovers today. In fact, the spinach taste pops out even more now that it's had time to steep in the sauce.

I am still not understanding this. If the pasta is covered in sauce/cheese, why is it dry?

I guess I didn't cover it completely with sauce.

I've used both half/half and heavy cream when making vodka sauce. Just depends what I have on hand. It really won't make much of a difference.