Baked pasta with four cheeses

Another winner from the Classic Pasta Cookbook, this recipe comes together quite easily once you have the cheeses on hand. It takes a bit more time than most pasta recipes due to the extra baking step, but is still pretty quick. It is a pretty heavy and creamy meal, though, so you probably want to add something salad-y to balance it out.

The recipe as written calls for penne. We used a 2:1 mix of green rotini (made with spinach, broccoli, kale, and zucchini) and plain penne.

Ingredients, for 500g dried pasta

• 125mL table cream
• 15mL butter
• 128g fontina, grated
• 64g mascarpone
• 64g gorgonzola (the recipe calls for hard crumbled gorgonzola; we used gorgonzola dolce and it turned out just fine)
• a generous portion (perhaps 500mL) of finely grated fresh parmesan

Procedure

1. Start the pasta water boiling and preheat the oven to 450°F. Once the water is boiling, toss in some salt and the pasta.
2. Meanwhile, in a large pot, melt the butter into the cream over medium low heat.
3. Stir in the fontina, mascarpone, gorgonzola, and half the parmesan. Stir continuously until it has melted and the sauce is smooth and creamy. (If the sauce ends up thickening into a kind of elastic glop, stir in more cream until it cooperates.)
4. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and remove from the heat.
5. Once the pasta is cooked molto al dente (about a minute before al dente), drain it and add it to the pot with the sauce. Toss well until covered.
6. Fill a casserole dish with the pasta/sauce mix. Top with the remaining parmesan. Bake until the parmesan turns golden brown, about 10-15 minutes.
7. Let stand for 5 minutes, then eat.

Pennette with a Creamy Sundried Tomato and Prosciutto Sauce

Another recipe from Hazan, this one comes together very quickly. I've made some changes from the version given in the cookbook, cranking up the onion and prosciutto and cutting out the salt (the increased prosciutto adds enough on its own). As written it calls for penne, but I find I prefer the smaller penette.

Ingredients for one pound dried, store-bought pasta

• 30mL butter
• 1 medium-sized yellow onion, finely chopped
• 150g prosciutto, thinly sliced into sheets and then sliced or shredded
• 250mL heavy cream
• 50mL coarsely chopped sundried tomatoes in oil
• freshly grated parmesan

Procedure

1. Melt the butter in a pan over medium-high heat.
2. Sautee the onion in the butter until it softens and starts to turn golden
3. Add the prosciutto and sautee until it starts to brown
4. Add the cream and tomatoes. Reduce heat to medium and cook until the cream has reduced by about half.
5. Add the pasta (cooked al dente) and the cheese. Toss to coat the pasta and mix with the sauce components. Serve with additional parmesan.