So many guests to put on the table? Bring along with the work and prepare a first baked. When it's time to serve it, all you have to do is warm it up
If you have many guests for lunch or dinner you must necessarily organize you on time. To enjoy the company without spending all the time in the kitchen, you should prepare something the day before to be heated then at the moment.
With a first baked you're never wrong.
The right "rest"
In fact, baked pasta is practice to take to the table and always like everyone.
Preparing it first not only can help those who are in the kitchen to carry on with the work, but sometimes it also makes the final result is better. We know that things cooked in the oven should never be served immediately because they have to "rest" a little to take more flavor and reach the perfect consistency.
A thousand recipes of baked pasta
When it comes to baked pasta we talk about an infinite variety of recipes.
Cannelloni, lasagne, gnocchi, conchiglioni, but also stuffed pasta: you can prepare baked pasta in many ways and with different seasonings. Here are some.
With the sauce
The most classic is the condiment made from ragu, béchamel and parmesan.
The important thing, if you want an extraordinary first, is to prepare the béchamel sauce at home. It's easy, fast and the result is completely different. We guarantee it.
The sauce can then be made with the past, but also with i chunks if you want something more rustic, or you can use i Cherry tomatoes and caramelize them in the oven. In this case it is excellent pairing with ricotta salata or pesto.
How to make béchamel
With vegetables
A classic alternative to meat sauce is baked pasta with ricotta and spinach, a combination that always puts everyone in agreement and makes them happy too vegetarians.
Alternatively, try pairing this season pumpkin and mushrooms to be enriched by also wanting with sausage or speck.
If you want a first course full of vegetables, colorful and healthy, however, prepare a mixed vegetables in a pan or oven. Always choose what the season offers and match the flavors and textures at your pleasure. You can cook the vegetables leaving it crispy, or vegetables in leaves, or even all together for a super taste.
With fish
If the menu is based on fish you can prepare a vegetable baked pasta or just with crustaceans and fish.
It is excellent with smoked salmon and ricotta, perfumed with dill, but also with shrimps and courgettes or very simple with cod and tomatoes.
And for the most demanding palates, the baked pasta with the lobster maybe perfumed with a touch of saffron.
Mozzarella yes or no?
The choice is yours and it also depends on the type of recipe that you will go to prepare.
In lasagna, for example, mozzarella is not necessary and not even in cannelloni, but if you do one short pasta topped with many vegetables or even of the gnocchi, then the mozzarella makes the difference.
The important thing is to choose a good one squeeze it well before using it to avoid losing too much water.
When to freeze
You can cook your first baked a few hours before serving it or even the day before, but you can also prepare it in large quantities and then freeze what you do not need right away.
After cooking, let it cool for good and then cover it and store it in the freezer.
You can too freeze it from raw, but be careful because in cooking it will lose more water.
How to cook it once out of the freezer? Just put it in the oven without necessarily defrosting it before.
Obviously at this point it will not be able to be refrozen!
But after so much talking about baked goods, what is the best pasta format for these recipes?
We are spoiled for choice, but we we suggest 5.
