Monday 6 April 2009

Oven baked pasta alla ricotta & mushrooms



This was another improvisation that came out a winner on my recent experiment. I came up with this idea when we had a lot of ricotta on hand. The key is the naturally lumpy ricotta needs to be whipped well with the milk to the smooth, cream like texture, and not to cook the pasta all the way as it will finish cooking itself inside the oven. As a mushroom lover, I think I will increase the amount of the mushrooms the next time though, IMO one can never put too much mushrooms in a dish ;-P

500g dry short pasta (I used fusilli)
700g ricotta
milk - as needed
50g(+ or -) grated parmiggiano/grana padano
500g mushrooms (button mushrooms are fine, but I would like to try with oyster mushrooms next time!)
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic, smashed
1 tsp dried oregano
olive oil, as needed
more grated parmiggiano(grana padano) and bread crumbs for topping
salt
pepper

Finely slice the mushrooms and onion. Sautè them well in enough olive oil with smashed garlic.
Beat the ricotta in a bowl, adding some milk little by little gradually, to make a smooth, creamy (not too runny) mixture.
Meanwhile cook the pasta, remove from the pot and drain about 2 minutes before the suggested cooking time. (should be still quite chewy to the teeth)
Mix in the large bowl the sautèed mushrooms/onion, ricotta mixture and pasta until the pasta is evenly coated with the condiments.
Pour the mixture in a baking dish, top the surface with the mixture of bread crumbs and parmiggiano.
Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes at 175°C, or until the topping is golden brown.

1 comment:

  1. Another mushroom dish!!! It must be delish kak! We want more delicious recipes, more, more, more!!! Huhu :p

    -Arien Dani-

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