Creamy Baked Four-Cheese Pasta
From georgiarose 16 years ago
- 10 minutes to make
- Serves 6
I have made this many times and my family loves it! We are a bunch of cheese lovers. I’ve made the variation with tomatoes and basil as well. It is also very good, but I prefer the cheese only version. It doesn’t reheat well, so keep that in mind. Read more Hope you enjoy! Source: Cook's Illustrated. January 2003 See less
Ingredients
- bread Crumb Topping shopping list
- 3 or 4 slices white sandwich bread with crusts, torn into quarters shopping list
- ¼-cup (1/2 ounce) grated parmesan cheese shopping list
- ¼-teaspoon salt shopping list
- 1/8-teaspoon ground black pepper shopping list
- pasta and cheese shopping list
- 4-ounces Italian Fontina cheese, shredded (about 1 cup) shopping list
- 3-ounces gorgonzola cheese, crumbled (about ¾ cup) shopping list
- ½-cup (1 ounce) grated pecorino romano cheese shopping list
- ¼-cup (1/2 ounce) grated parmesan cheese shopping list
- 1-pound penne shopping list
- 1-tablespoon plus 1/4 teaspoon salt shopping list
- 2-teaspoons unsalted butter shopping list
- 2-teaspoons all-purpose flour shopping list
- 1-1/2 cups heavy cream shopping list
- ¼-teaspoon ground black pepper shopping list
How to make it
- For the topping: Pulse bread in food processor until mixture resembles coarse crumbs, about ten 1-second pulses (you should have about 11/2 cups). Transfer to small bowl; stir in Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Set mixture aside.
- For the pasta: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 500 degrees.
- Bring 4-quarts water to rolling boil in stockpot. Combine cheeses in large bowl; set aside. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt to boiling water; stir to separate pasta. While pasta is cooking, melt butter in small saucepan over medium-low heat; whisk flour into butter until no lumps remain, about 30 seconds. Gradually whisk in cream, increase heat to medium, and bring to boil, stirring occasionally; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 1 minute to ensure that flour cooks. Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper; cover cream mixture to keep hot and set aside. When pasta is very al dente (when bitten into, pasta should be opaque and slightly underdone at very center), drain about 5 seconds, leaving pasta slightly wet. Add pasta to bowl with cheeses; immediately pour cream mixture over, then cover bowl with foil or large plate and let stand 3 minutes. Uncover bowl and stir with rubber spatula, scraping bottom of bowl, until cheeses are melted and mixture is thoroughly combined.
- Transfer pasta to a baking dish, then sprinkle evenly with reserved bread crumbs, pressing down lightly. Bake until topping is golden brown, about 7 minutes. Serve immediately.
- Variations:
- Baked Four-Cheese Pasta with Tomatoes and Basil
- Follow recipe for Creamy Baked Four-Cheese Pasta, adding one 14½-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained, to pasta along with cream mixture and stirring in ¼-cup coarsely chopped basil leaves just before transferring pasta to baking dish.
- Baked Four-Cheese Pasta with Prosciutto and Peas
- Follow recipe for Creamy Baked Four-Cheese Pasta, omitting salt from cream mixture and adding 4-ounces prosciutto, chopped, and 1 cup frozen peas to pasta along with cream mixture.
People Who Like This Dish 11
- khippie777 Broken Arrow, OK
- notyourmomma South St. Petersburg, FL
- hollistersurfboi Dover, PA
- mordonez61 Elgin, IL
- unicorn4 Melbourne, AU
- coffeebean53 Charlotte, NC
- sparow64 Sweetwater, TN
- grandmacooks Somewhere In , VA
- shandy Tacoma, WA
- krumkake Chicago Suburbs, IL
- Plus 1 othersFrom around the world!
The Rating
Reviewed by 5 people-
not sure how I missed this one! love it!
sparow64
in Sweetwater loved it
Reviews & Comments 4
-
All Comments
-
Your Comments
" It was excellent "