It has been AGES since I blogged anything. It's not that I haven't been cooking, but between baby, work and this and that, I just haven't tried anything new. Boring eh? Yummy (the tried and true recipes have a special place in my heart), but not a fascinating read. However, here we go, with someone like what would happen if a tried and true stalwart got a makeover. Macaroni Cheese becomes (dah dah dahhhhh) - La Torta Formaggio!
20 g butter, melted
1/4 cup breadcrumbs (I used panko)
400 g pasta (I used macaroni, but penne, shells...)
125 g blue vein cheese (Kapiti Kikorangi, booyah!!)
1 cup grated pecorino or parmasan
2 eggs, whisked
1 onion, diced
good bunch spinach, stalks removed and shredded
handful mushrooms, sliced
1 more egg, whisked
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees celcius and brush 22cm springform cake tin with butter. Shake breadcrumbs around tin until coated. Discard extra breadcrumbs.
- Cook pasta until tender. Drain and cool. Add parmesan, blue cheese and first two eggs. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir until well combined.
- Fry onion in a little butter or oil until soft. Add spinach and mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes or until spinach is wilted (you may need to cover the pan and keep temp a bit lower). Drain off or squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Combine in bowl with extra egg.
- Spoon half the pasta mixture into prepared cake tin. Spread pasta evenly over base of pan and press firmly. Top with spinach mixture, spreading and pressing over pasta. Top with remaining pasta and press firmly. Sprinkle with extra parmasan.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until firm to the touch and golden on top. Stand for 10 minutes before releasing clip and removing from tin.
- Serve with a leafy salad for a incredibly flavoursome change from the usual pasta dish.
