Now let's cook baked pasta – three recipes worth trying
The suitably spicy nduja gnocchi pasta, cauliflower mac & cheese and sophisticated bouillabaisse fresh pasta are new flavors of easy and effortless baked pasta.
1. Spice up your trend paste
Gnocchi pasta seasoned with nduja has the ingredients for a hit: this delicious dish is incredibly easy to prepare, as you just mix the ingredients in a pan and the oven does the rest.
The dish is flavoured with nduja, a super-trendy salami paste from Calabria, southern Italy. The paste is made from hot chilies and fatty pork. Many pizzerias add the paste in chunks on top of the pizza.
2. A classic with a twist
The flavor of the classic baked pasta mac & cheese, which is also considered a comfort food, is enriched with cauliflower crumbs and fresh spinach. The secret to the dish is in the wonderfully flavorful, creamy cheese sauce.
In this easy recipe, the sauce is made with a runny cheddar cheese dip, which has a mild, yet appropriately cheddar-like flavor. If you want a more robust flavor and texture, mix in some grated cheddar or chunks of hard cheese.
3. Inspired by Bouillabaisse
The flavors of the classic French fish soup bouillabaisse are enchanting in an elegant oven-baked pasta dish. A tasty broth made from saffron, fennel, garlic and tomatoes is absorbed into the rolled fresh pasta, seasoning it to be incredibly delicious. You don't need to skimp on high-quality olive oil in this dish, as it rounds out the flavor with just the right amount of sophistication.
Bouillabaisse pasta has so much broth that it's a good idea to place a spoon next to the pasta plate to scrape up every last drop. If you like, you can finish the dish with grated manchego or pecorino cheese in addition to chopped fresh parsley.
The story was previously published in Helsingin Sanomat.
