Basta Pasta -- Simple Baked Pasta

When we were up on Lake Huron this summer, I went to the local store for ingredients to make a quick baked pasta. They had no organic ricotta, nor did they have organic cottage cheese. I found some quark, of which I had never hitherto heard. It turned out to be a lucky accident, as this made the creamiest, most fabulous baked pasta EVER.

(I like this kind of baked pasta over lasagna for a quick weekday meal because it's very simple to throw together)


ingredients:

2 cloves garlic
3 small onions
8 medium tomatoes
'
1 small package mozzarella
1 container quark
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk

2 packages rigatoni or fusilli (whole grain)

sea salt to taste
herbs
black pepper
extra virgin coconut oil


directions:

1.   sauté garlic in plenty of coconut oil (1/4 cup)
2.   add onion and sea salt and cook to translucence
3.   add tomatoes and cook

4.   grate mozzarella, mix with quark and eggs, add milk, sea salt and herbs, black pepper

5.   soak uncooked pasta in cold water for 5 minutes and then drain

6.   mix pasta with hot tomato sauce, then stir in cheese mixture

7.  put into large rectangular (lightly oiled) pan, pressing in with scraper

8. cover top of with milk to ensure all pasta is submerged

9.  bake at 345 for 50 minutes. Allow time for it to set after it comes out of the oven

(optional: grate some parmesan on top before baking)

Last night we made a quick baked pasta dinner just based on what we had lying around:

ingredients:

1 cup cooked cauliflower

1 cup frozen spinach

1 carrot

2 boxes (375 g) of whole grain fusili

2 cups of (frozen) tomato sauce (see pizza post for recipe)

1 500g package of pressed cottage cheese (or 1 container of ricotta, or cottage cheese)

1 cup of milk

1 cup of grated mozarella

1/4 cup grated parmesan

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 cup blanched almond meal

2 eggs

sea salt

black pepper

nutmeg

oregano

1 cup milk

1/4 cup grated parmesan

directions:

1. puree cauliflower, spinach, and carrot

2. mix  pureed vegetables with cheeses, eggs, sauce, and 1st cup of milk

3. add in nutritional yeast and almond meal

4. add salt, pepper, nutmeg, and oregano to taste

5. soak uncooked pasta for 5 minutes in cold water, and then drain

6. mix pasta into cheese mixture, and scoop/pour into an oiled rectangular baking dish

7. sprinkle the second 1/4 cup of grated parmesan on the top, and pour the 2nd 1 cup of milk over the top to make sure all bits of pasta are covered

10. bake at 345 for 50-60 mintues

11. allow to set before serving.

Basically, you can get the picture that I pillaged my freezer and pantry for whatever I had, and threw it in. It turned out high in protein, with a decent amount of vegetables in it. Anyway, judging by how quickly my picky eaters wolfed it down, it tasted great. Don't be afraid to be creative, just don't put too much of something in so that it overwhelms the rest of the ingredients. If you don't have the exact ingredients, you can probably find something that will work instead, just as well, or simply do without.

I thought I'd add a footnote that this particular one turned out wonderfully, and like most baked pastas, was even better the next day. And, you can easily divide it into portions and freeze them individually to be pulled out of the freezer for quick meals whenever you need.