One of my friends, Doug asked me to make some sort of creamy pasta, so he could make it himself. I've never made creamy pasta before (Continental pasta sauce packets, white sauce, cheese sauce don't count) except maybe the time I tried to make carbonara and this creamy mushroom sauce for a pie...it didn't work that well...
Anyway, there was this new Philadelphia product that I wanted to try since it claimed it could withstand heat and won't curdle, which I was the problem when I used thickened cream. Plus since it was a cream substitute, it's much healthier than using cream.
The cream substitute looked and felt like spreadable cream cheese and it did in fact work, and really well too! Only one crap photo because baked pasta should be eaten piping hot :) No time for styling ;D haha what an excuse!
***
creamy pasta bake
ingredients:
serves 2 - 4
- 1 cup short length pasta (I used elbow pasta)
- 3 stalks asparagus, cut into smallish pieces and blanched
- 1 onion, sliced
- 3 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked overnight, excess water squeezed out and sliced
- 3 slices short cut bacon, cut into smallish squares
- 1 cup (250 ml) Philadelphia cream for cooking (or thickened cream)
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
(I bought a block of parmesan and grated it myself, I didn't use the powdery parmesan sold in packets) - salt and pepper
- oil
- extra grated parmesan and mozzarella cheese
Note: I used asparagus, onion, shiitake mushrooms, and bacon as the fillings as they were the ingredients I had on hand. Use your favourite ingredients that's suitable for this dish :)
method:
- Cook the pasta according to the packet's instructions.
Rinse in cold water and drain. - Heat a little bit of oil in a non stick pan and saute onions until lightly brown and soft.
Add the bacon and saute until lightly brown.
Add the asparagus and shiitake and saute for approxiamately 1 minute. - Add the cream and cheese and stir though to combine.
Add the pasta and coat the pasta with the creamy sauce.
Season well with salt and pepper. - Transfer pasta to a baking dish, top with grated cheese and bake in the oven at 200°C until cheese has melted and turned golden brown (about 15 minutes).
