Pasta bake: easy preparation
A crispy, golden-yellow layer of cheese, pasta and hearty ingredients: the thought of a homemade pasta casserole makes your mouth water. The best known is probably its Italian representative: the lasagna. But the pasta bake has a lot more to offer: it is the perfect companion for every situation in life, be it for a spontaneous visit or as a delicious dinner after a stressful day. A pasta casserole can be prepared at any time and improvised from the leftovers in the fridge. We love pasta casserole because it is so quick to prepare and delicious.
The ingredients for the pasta bake? You determine that yourself!
Pasta bake, also called pasta gratin, is one of the classics in the kitchen – not without reason: it hardly takes any preparation time and then only has to sizzle in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes, while we can already put our legs up relaxed. You should cook the pasta beforehand, but al dente is enough. Finally they cook in the oven. You can actually combine all the ingredients, as you wish. Particularly quick recipes for pasta casseroles are ready to eat in half an hour – for example our pasta casserole with spinach.
Pasta bake recipes with minced meat or ham as a hearty ingredient are suitable for meat fans. The meat should be seared briefly so that delicious roasted aromas can form – this makes the pasta bake particularly hearty. Vegetables should of course not be missing in any pasta bake and tastes great even without meat in a vegetarian pasta bake. There are no limits to the imagination of which vegetables to choose: Tomatoes, spinach, zucchini and peppers are popular. But why not try out unusual ideas – combine pasta with potatoes or pack seasonal vegetables such as pumpkin in the pasta bake?
Pasta bake: this is how it gets juicy
Sufficient liquid should be added to all pasta casseroles, otherwise the casserole will become dry and hard: milk, cream, egg or tomato sauce are particularly good for this, depending on your taste. Spices also play an important role. Even the pasta water should contain plenty of salt and the remaining ingredients should be peppered and salted.
The sauce can be varied with spices: for example exotic with curry, Italian with oregano or Mediterranean with herbs from Provence. The fun here lies in trying out and discovering new combinations until you have found your very own pasta bake favorite.
This gives the pasta bake a crispy golden brown crust
If you want a nice crispy cheese crust on the pasta bake, you should use hard cheeses such as Parmesan, Emmentaler, Gruyère or Comté. Young gouda, mozzarella and brie are soft cheeses. These melt and combine with the pasta and the other ingredients. However, they do not conjure up a crispy crust. We reveal what you need to know about gratinating.
Pasta bake – a calorie bomb?
Many people dread the calories when preparing pasta casseroles. With the right ingredients, light pasta casseroles can also be prepared: for example with poultry strips instead of minced meat, lots of vegetables and tomato sauce instead of cream sauce. If you really want a cream sauce, you can also replace some of the cream with milk or use reduced-fat cooking cream.
If you want to save calories, but don't want to do without the cheese crust when pasta baked, you should try low-calorie gratin cheese or diced Harz cheese. Our recipe for pasta casserole with cooked ham proves that this can taste delicious.
On the following pages you will find our wonderful pasta bake recipes: with fish or meat, but also vegetarian with cherry tomatoes or chestnuts. There is something for every taste! We promise you: fans of pasta casserole will get their money's worth.
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