White-Dish Dinner.
Saturday, October 23, 2010 at 04:18PM I'm really starting to love everything that comes out of our white casserole dish (though, I promise you the entire stew I made last week will NOT fit in a 2-quart dish; only the leftovers!). It always produces a simple, usually one-dish meal. And this one is for our cheese-loving and/or vegetarian friends (Note: if you're prone to feeling guilty over super-cheesy pasta dishes, I recommend skipping this blog entry). This week's white-dish dinner: three-cheese rigatoni (or, in our case where someone took half my rigatoni during his week-long bachelorhood, three-cheese rigatoni and rotini).
Pre-heat your oven to 375. Boil enough rigatoni to produce three cups of the cooked pasta. Chop up the following: 1 large carrot, shredded (I use my box grater); 2 medium ribs of celery, sliced (I first slice my celery down the middle and make smaller slices); 1 tablespoon of fresh basil; 4 ounces of Monterey Jack cheese; and 4 ounces of Colby cheese (tip: you can usually find a Colby/Monterey shredded cheese mix, though shredding the bricks is more economical. I like keeping a large brick of Monterey Jack around for a soup/chili topping). Next, mix your chopped items with the following: 1 cup of chive chip dip (yes, you read that right. Chip dip); 1/4 cup milk; and 1/4 cup grated Parmesan. Then, melt one tablespoon of butter and mix that with 1/4 cup of Italian-seasoned bread crumbs. (Note: I like adding peas to the mix if I have them on hand. Cubed ham is nice, too.)
Drain the pasta and mix it with the hefty cheese mixture (just re-use the pasta cooking bowl and transfer it to your baking dish). Top the pasta mixture with the buttered bread crumbs. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Enjoy!
Reader Comments (1)
This recipe is delicious! We just enjoyed it for supper and it was loved by all.....well, Emerson didn't like the carrots but once he got around he was on board. Thanks for sharing it. I will probably post about it too.