Tortellini Spinach Bake in Creamy Lemon Sauce

This one comes from Our Best Bites. Here is a link to the original recipe. I'll list it below as well, along with a few of my own comments/adjustments.

12 oz bag Barilla Cheese & Spinach Tortellini (find them in the dry pasta aisle) (I have not been able to find the dry tortellini. I have always used tortellini from the refrigerated section; there are usually a few different varieties available.)
4 oz bacon or pancetta, (about 4 strips bacon)*
3 cloves garlic, pressed in garlic press or finely minced
2 Tbs flour
2 C milk
¾ tsp kosher salt
⅛ tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp dry basil (I prefer fresh if I have it, either to replace all of the basil, or just add fresh basil on top after everything is done baking.)
¼ tsp red pepper flakes (1/2 tsp or more if you like spicy) (I don't do well with spicy food, and 1/4 tsp added some flavor without making it seem spicy at all.)
1 medium lemon
2 C loosely packed fresh spinach, roughly chopped
(Next time, I think it would taste great to add some chopped artichoke hearts as well.)
¾ C grated mozzarella cheese, divided
¾ C grated Parmesan cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Fill a large stock pot with water and bring to a boil.  Add tortellini and cook according to package instructions.

Place bacon in a medium sized skillet on the stove-top at medium-high heat.  Cook until crisp.  Remove bacon from pan with slotted spoon and set on paper towels to drain.  Reserve two tablespoons bacon drippings in pan and discard the rest.  Add garlic to pan and cook until fragrant and tender, about 1 minute.  Add flour to pan and stir with a whisk for about 1 minute. Slowly add milk and continue to stir with whisk until smooth.  Add salt, pepper, basil, and red pepper flakes and bring sauce to a simmer.

While sauce is heating, use a microplane grater or a fine-holed cheese grater to zest lemon.  (Last time I didn't have a fresh lemon, so I just used bottled lemon juice, and omitted the lemon zest. It had less lemon flavor, but that was OK with us.) Then cut lemon in half and remove juice.  Add 2 teaspoons zest and 1 tablespoon lemon juice to sauce.  (This one is a note from the original recipe, not me: Note:  I really love lemon so I added this to my tastes.  If you don’t want as strong of a lemon flavor, I suggest cutting it down to 1 teaspoon zest and 2 teaspoons lemon juice) .  Continue to stir until thickened, 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat.

Drain tortellini and place back in stock pot.  Reserve 1 tablespoon of the cooked bacon and add the rest to the pasta mixture.  Add spinach, (artichoke hearts, if adding), 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.  Add sauce and gently stir to combine.  Place pasta mixture in an 8×8 or 9×9 baking dish and top with remaining 1/4 cup mozarella and 1/4 cup parmesan and also crumbled bacon.

Cover pan with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes, until cheese on top is melted and pasta is bubbly throughout.  Remove from oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.

* For a vegetarian meal, omit bacon.

Serves 4-6