“I Never Saw Such a Pack of Picky Eaters”- Pasta 3 Ways
Ever been in a situation where you’re cookin’ up a meal and your friends/family/guests don’t necessarily agree on what they want to eat? Well, this happens quite often in my house. Some people like pasta with tomato sauce, some like it with garlic and olive oil etc. Well, instead of making 1 big dish and having an unhappy eater, I decided to make it easy and have pasta three ways.
What you need:
Pasta (I had leftover noodles (combo of whole wheat penne, corkscrew and spaghetti)
Tomato Sauce
Garlic (sliced)
Olive Oil
Toasted Pine Nuts
Sundried Tomatoes
Ricotta
Veggie Meatballs
Mozzarella Cheese (Fresh is best)
Steamed Asparagus Chopped
Lemon Juice
Hot Pepper Flakes
Mushrooms Chopped
Pecorino Romano Cheese (My fave!)
Set Oven to 400 degrees on convection
1. Grease large muffin tins and set aside. Cook pasta of choice and set aside. In a greased sautee pan, add garlic, mushrooms and asparagus. Cook just enough that the mushrooms are cooked through. Add about 1 tbsp of lemon juice to the pan. Set veggies aside.
2. In the same pan combine olive oil and sliced garlic. Fry garlic in the oil just enough that it starts to brown. Add in cooked pasta, pine nuts, mozzarella, pepper flakes and veggies. Mix together (you may need to add a little more olive oil). Add add pasta to the greased muffin tins.
3. Next, take remaining pasta and place in a bowl. Add tomato sauce. Mix until the pasta is coated. Place a small amount of the pasta into 2 of the tins. Layer with veggie meatballs, sundried tomatoes, Pecarino cheese and veggies.
4. Finally, take remaining pasta with sauce and add ricotta (to taste). Mix until well combined and dish it into the remaining muffin tins. Top with Pecarino cheese.
5. Bake in oven for about 15 minutes or until crispy on top. Serve immediately.
*I served the pasta with a side salad of fresh mixed greens, chick peas, Pecarino cheese, raisins and a low-fat balsamic dressing.
**The good thing about this pasta dish is that it is already portioned out for your guests and they can try a variety of different kinds of pasta dishes.
2 years ago