Baked pasta is the best autumn food. It’s warming, cheesy and tasty
Bacon and spinach are suitable for filling pasta. Mari Moilanen
Simply delicious. You get a fresh take on pasta when you gratinate it in the oven after gently cooking it.
Everything is crowned by the gratin surface of the pasta, which is crisped in the oven. Cooked pasta does not offer this crispness.
Here are a few tips to help you succeed in making baked pasta.
The key to everything is a sufficiently moist and rich sauce so that the baked pasta does not become dry.
You should also pre-cook the pasta. This also ensures the softness of the baked pasta. However, the cooking time for pasta is only half of the cooking time indicated on the bag. The final ripening takes place in the oven. This way, the baked pasta retains its structure.
Frost the surface of the baked pasta with cheese, so that it becomes crispy and tasty. Remember to slip the cheese into the pasta itself as well. Who doesn’t love stretchy cheese.
Let the pasta rest for ten minutes before serving. This way, its texture and flavors are at their best.
Three-layer pasta: penna pasta, spinach and bacon. Mari Moilanen
Spinach-bacon pasta in the oven
(for 4 people)
250 g penne pasta
1 onion
150 g of bacon
300 g of spinach
25 g of butter
2 tablespoons of wheat flour
200 g strong grated cheese (Comté, Gruyère or Emmental)
100 g Parmesan cheese
3.3 dl cooking cream
1. Pre-cook the pasta for 2/3 of the time marked on the bag.
2. Grate the parmesan and chop the onion. Chop the bacon and fry the pieces in a pan until the bacon fat melts. Add onion and freeze until soft. Add butter and spinach and fry for a few minutes.
3. Add the flour, mix and add the cream and 2/3 of the cheeses. Pour the pasta into the baking dish and sprinkle the rest of the cheeses on top.
4. Bake in a 180-degree oven until the surface becomes crispy and golden brown, i.e. for about 20 minutes. Let the pasta rest for a while before serving.