Friday 5 December 2008

Charlotte and Mushroom Penne Pasta Gratin

Receita em PORTUGUES clique AQUI

This was a quick and easy recipe I made to make use of some Charlotte onions that I had in a bag and needed to use before getting spoiled.... ***WARNING**** Very easy and cheap to make.


Recipe Ingredients:

  • 20 Charlotte onions (remember these are small onions, pealed and cut in halves)
  • 10 medium mushrooms (halved and sliced)
  • 2 garlic cloves (minced)
  • 1 piece of fresh ginger minced (the size of two garlic cloves)
  • 2 large carrots (half and sliced very very thinly)
  • 1 plum tomato tin (chopped)
  • 2 soup spoons of tomato paste (in a little water)
  • 2 cups of milk
  • 1 soup spoon of butter
  • a pinch of nutmeg
  • a pinch of salt and black pepper
  • 2 soup spoons of plain flour dissolved in water
  • 4 soups spoons of grated cheese + 3 soup spoons of grated cheese (any mature cheddar will do)
  • a soup spoon of oregano
  • 400grs of penne pasta (other durum wheat pasta will do)
  • 5 soup spoons of olive oil
It looks like quite a lot of ingredients but really isn't and is really easy and cheap winter food.
Put a pan of water with a little salt and a soup spoon of oil on the stove till is boiling, them put the pasta in and boil until cooked "al dente" which should be around 10 to 12 minutes, once done let in drain in a colander.

Now you need to make two sauces, a bechamel and a tomato one. Start by the tomato one as takes longer. So in a pan on the heat pour the 5 spoons of olive oil the pinch of salt and black pepper plus the minced garlic and ginger, let these cook until golden, as soon as that happens add the onions and the carrots, continue cooking stirring occasionally until the onions are semi transparent, at this stage add the mushroom the tomato tin the tomato paste in a little water, and let this all cook for about 15-20 minutes.

Five minutes before the tomato sauce is done start doing the bechamel and start preheating the oven to 200c. To make the bechamel sauce put on another pan the milk the butter a pinch of salt and black pepper plus the pinch of nutmeg, wait until very hot by this time the butter has melted, add in one go the flour that you previously fully dissolved in some water, always stirring so that it doesn't get lumps, once it thickens add the 3 soup spoons of grated cheese, this will thicken the sauce even more.

Now compose the dish by pouring the pasta into the tomato sauce , mix well, then pour this into a large Pyrex tray, smooth it down with the back of a serving spoon, then evenly pour the bechamel sauce over the tomato and pasta, so that it evenly covers the whole of the pasta, over this with your hand sprinkle the remaining grated cheese, and finally on top sprinkle the oregano and grind some black pepper. Stick this in the preheated oven for 15 minutes until golden brown on top and serve.

this is a lovely vegetarian dish I invented years ago but is always popular in my house, for meat eaters just add a side of plain grilled chicken breast with some melted butter, lemon juice, garlic and parsley poured over the chicken. (or fish well whatever you want :) )

11 comments:

Nate @ House of Annie said...

Very nice. You should enter it in the Presto Pasta Nights roundup.

Dee said...

It looks delicious! How can those ingredients be anything but delicious! Well done!

Chef E said...

Seems like a great comfort food and healthy, well small portion for me...please :)

TNL said...

That looks delish...I love such vegetarian recipes, thanks!

cheers, ts
the spice who loved me

Rico said...

I would like to take this opportunity 1st to thank you:
Trupti, Chef E, Dee and Nat'N'Annie. For having dropped bay my blog and check out my latest recipe, and also for the lovely comments left here. I love you guys.
The dish was indeed quite delicious, me my wife sister and son ate about half of the tray and my other older son ate the other half lol...not joking though he really did :)
Thanks again guys, I'll be visiting your too, as I did before.

Anonymous said...

Dear Ricardo!
Greetings!
I did notice your recipe on Foodbuzz, but I was a bit puzzled at the word "charlotte", thinking of the French cake!
Holy macaroni, someone is kicking my backside! The name for a variety of onion! LOL.
Alright, now I'm interested!
Did you know (I have to fight back, lOL again) that "gratin" in French also means "la creme de la creme" when talking about society?
That said, I'm not a cannibal!
Great recipe and alluring pic!
Thank you so much for visiting and commneting on my blog!
Cheers,
Robert-Gilles

Rico said...

Was a pleasure to comment on your site Robert, and great to know you not a cannibal lol, but are you a carnivorous or vegetarian? None the less this recipe should be great for you as it suits both alike, so "Merci" for your comment on mine.

Anonymous said...

Looks scrumptious! Perfect for these chilly days :) Thanks for stopping by my blog too!

Rico said...

Thank you Jen really is appreciated, is very chilli here -3 celcius

Anonymous said...

Looks like ooey gooey fun.

Rico said...

wasn't that gooey lol...was very cheesy....but I must admit it was fun both to eat and to make...thx for your comment it is appreciated.

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Hi my name is Rico (short for Ricardo) will regularly add more food content to this blog, all my recipes are tried and tested, as I make them and eat them as well as my family, so I wouldn't give you something that is not good.

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