Monday is often the day when we cook the leftovers of the weekend. If for Sunday lunch you cooked delicious chorizo pasta, but once again your eyes were bigger than your stomach, your fridge is surely full of airtight containers filled with shells. Result, you will have to redouble your imagination to transform your mountain of dough into tasty dishes. If you need some good ideas, this cheddar pasta gratin is ideal! Whatever the variety of pasta If we have anything left on our hands, we can easily make this ultra-delicious recipe imagined by culinary content creator Mummylifeandco. We wouldn’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but there is little chance that it will be the grimace soup if this gratin is on the menu of the dinner tonight.
A simple and inexpensive recipe that will please everyone, especially children
Leftovers are never very sexy, especially for children! When we have to make them eat the same thing the next day, they are never very enthusiastic. However, there is some recipes that are even better the next day or that can be transformed in a thousand and one delicious ways. This cheddar pasta gratin is a very good example. This is the perfect recipe to treat yourself to leftover plain pasta. We add a excellent cheese sauce, a few minutes in the oven and that’s it! You have everything you need to enjoy yourself and everyone will be happy.
The list of ingredients for 4 people:
- 350 g of raw dough
- 1 onion
- 1 tablespoon of flour
- 1 carton of liquid cream
- salt pepper
- garlic, paprika and a mixture of maggi type spices
- 100 g grated cheddar
- a little grated mozzarella
The steps of the recipe:
- Start by cooking the pasta in a large pot of salted water if you haven’t already. For cooking time, refer to what is indicated on the package.
- Meanwhile, finely slice an onion. Brown it for two to three minutes over medium heat in a pan with a drizzle of olive oil.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- When the onion is translucent, add a tablespoon of flour. Mix then pour a whole brick of liquid crème fraîche into the pan. Season with salt, pepper, garlic, paprika and a Maggi spice blend. Mix again then add the grated cheddar. Stir until the cheddar has melted.
- When your pasta is cooked, place it in the pan and mix well, making sure it is well coated with the sauce.
- Pour the contents of your pan into a baking dish. To finish, sprinkle with grated mozzarella.
- Bake for 10 to 15 minutes at 180°C.
How do you make your pasta gratin golden brown? The simple trick
What’s more satisfying than perfectly browned cheese? This is the very principle of pasta gratin and when the crust is not as golden as we wanted, we are a little disappointed. Fortunately, there is a simple tip so that your dish is always nicely browned. Before putting in the oven, pour a little liquid cream on your gratin. It’s an unstoppable technique tested and approved by the cook. And if you like a crispy crust, for the last minutes of cooking, set your oven to grill mode.