Baked Pasta with Tomato, Cream, and Five Cheeses
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- Yield Serves 4, or 6 to 8 as an appetizer
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Ingredients
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for pasta water
- 1 pound imported conchiglie rigate, (shells)
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup canned pureed tomatoes
- 1/4 pound thinly sliced mozzarella cheese
- 1/2 cup freshly grated pecorino Romano cheese, (1 1/2 ounces), plus more for garnish
- 1/2 cup coarsely shredded (1 1/2 ounces) Fontina cheese
- 1/4 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese, (1 1/2 ounces)
- 2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
- 6 fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
- 1/4 cup very thinly sliced scallion, for garnish
Directions
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Heat oven to 500 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta, and cook for 4 minutes. Drain in a colander.
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While pasta is cooking, place cream, tomatoes, cheeses, salt, and basil in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Add cooked pasta to cheese mixture, and toss to combine.
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Divide among six to eight shallow ceramic gratin dishes (1 1/2 to 2 cups in capacity). Dot with butter, and bake until bubbly and brown on top, 7 to 10 minutes. Sprinkle with pecorino Romano and scallions. Serve immediately.
This tasted good, but some of the flavor was a little too subtle for my liking. I was looking for a bit stronger flavor. I am thinking of trying to add sliced pieces of chicken to it to see how it will work.
I used marinara sauce in place of pureed tomatoes. It added to the great taste.