Baked pasta does not have to be heavy and excessively rich, especially in summer. Here's how to prepare it quickly and make it tasty
Make the pasta in the oven summer it may seem crazy, but in reality, if done intelligently, it is not at all!
First of all, in summer you don't want to stay too long in front of the stove and prepare elaborate dishes, so baked pasta is a good solution. Only the pasta should be cooked, add the other ingredients, coarsely cut, and bake for a few minutes.
The concept is the same as the summer cold pasta, but without giving up that bit of extra goodness given by the cheese streamlined and from the crust Crisp typical of baked pasta.
Quick baked pasta: how do you do it?
Baked pasta must be absolutely fast in the summer, so as not to keep the oven on too long. This means that ingredients do not need to cooking and that the passage in the oven must serve only to make the dough more greedy. To succeed in the mission, it is important to first use a quick sauce.
The must par excellence is surely the baked pasta col pesto, a condiment that does not need cooking. Not only basil pesto, but also walnuts, rocket and so on, perhaps to be mixed with ricotta cheese.
Another idea? You can prepare one fast sauce without cooking to season the pasta, blending the fresh cherry tomatoes with pine nuts, parmesan, basil, or with anchovies, capers, oregano and breadcrumbs.
All other ingredients must be simple, to be quickly cut to cubes, just like in pasta salads: cherry tomatoes, salami, olives and so on. If you like them crispy, also use seasonal vegetables like peppers or courgettes.
The right creaminess
Another fundamental element of baked pasta is his racy heart and enveloping. Mozzarella cheese is provolone they are the best choices, but to stay lighter you can also opt only for the ricotta cheese.
To achieve perfect consistency, you must be careful to maintain a certain equilibrium. Moisture is necessary to keep the dough from being baked too dry, but on the contrary you can risk creating an unpleasant one puddle of water at the bottom of the pan. This is why it is better to have mozzarella squeezed before being added to the pasta and that the seasonings are not too liquid. If so, add grated cheese and mix well, so as to absorb any excess water.
Before adding the pasta, remember to sprinkle the entire surface of the pan with butter or oil, so that the dough does not stick and is flavored even more.
Greedy gratination
Preparing baked pasta even in summer is for those who just can't give up the crunchiness of its typical crust. Since we don't need to bake the ingredients of our baked pasta, au gratin is the operation that interests us most.
To make it a rule of art, just sprinkle on the last layer of pasta parmesan or grated Parmesan, little ones butter flakes it's a oil thread. If you want an even more crisp result, use the bread crumbs, perhaps flavored with herbs or spices to taste. Remember to sprinkle the dough surface completely and evenly!
Since the ingredients must not cook, but only melt and gratin, cooking can be brief. For a perfect gratin, the oven must be set in ventilated mode for 10 minutes at 200 ° or in operation grill for 5 minutes.
Another idea? Create the last layer with abundant slices of fresh tomatoes and sprinkle them with breadcrumbs, Parmesan and oregano. THE gratin tomatoes they will be delicious!
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