Baked Skillet Pasta with Cheddar and Spiced Onions

By -


Something about this recipe caught my eye. It's not a weeknight dish - it says total time 1 hour, but I would say it could even take a bit longer. However, it is well worth following the recipe as written, it was really fantastic. My only suggestion is to use your discretion about how much pasta water to add before putting it in the oven - I may not have used the whole cup of pasta water - it just depends how much the sauce reduces when you simmer it up to that point. Original: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019853-baked-skillet-pasta-with-cheddar-and-spiced-onions I loved the cilantro in the sauce, but you could use all parsley if you don't like cilantro. 

Yield: 4 to 6 servings
  • 6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 large onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 large bay leaf
  • 1 ½ teaspoons ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • Pinch of cayenne, plus more to taste
  • 1 ¼ teaspoons fine sea salt, plus more as needed
  • 3 fat garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1 (15-ounce) can whole peeled plum tomatoes
  • 1 pound small pasta, such as rotini or shells
  • ¾ cup chopped parsley or cilantro (or use a combination of cilantro and parsley), plus more for serving
  • 8 ounces shredded Cheddar
  • ½ cup grated Parmesan
  • Hot sauce, for serving (optional)

 Heat ¼ cup oil in a 12-inch skillet over high heat. Add onions and bay leaf, and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and browned in spots, 12 to 20 minutes. (Reduce heat if the pan starts to scorch.) Lower heat to medium, and stir in coriander, ground cumin, cayenne and ¼ teaspoon salt; cook 1 more minute. 

Transfer half the onions to a bowl and reserve (leave the bay leaf in the skillet).

Add garlic, cumin seeds, pepper and allspice to the skillet, and stir. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. 

Pour in the juice from the canned tomatoes. Use your hands or kitchen scissors to squish or cut the tomatoes into pieces and add to pan. Fill the empty tomato can with water, and pour into the skillet. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil and remaining 1 teaspoon salt, and bring mixture to a simmer. Simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes. Taste, and add more salt and cayenne if you like. Remove bay leaf.

As mixture cooks, heat oven to 400 degrees and bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta until just about 2 minutes shy of al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta water, and drain pasta.

Stir pasta, reserved pasta water, and parsley into skillet with tomato sauce. Top with reserved browned onions, Cheddar and Parmesan. Transfer to oven and bake until golden and bubbly, 20 to 25 minutes. If you like, you can run the pan under the broil to brown the top, or leave it as is. Let cool slightly, top with more parsley, if desired, and serve with hot sauce, if you like. 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pizza Dough

By -
2 (1/4-ounce) packages active dry yeast 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, divided, plus additional for dusting 2 cups warm water (105–115°F), divided 2 teaspoons salt MAKE DOUGH: Whisk together yeast, 2 Tbsp flour, and 1/2 cup warm water in a measuring cup and let stand until mixture develops a creamy foam, about 10 minutes. (If mixture doesn’t foam, discard and start over with new yeast.) Stir together salt and 3 cups flour in a large bowl. Add yeast mixture and remaining 1 1/2 cups warm water and stir until smooth, then stir in 1 cup more flour. If dough sticks to your fingers, stir in just enough flour (up to 3/4 cup), a little at a time, to make dough just come away from side of bowl. (This dough may be wetter than other pizza doughs you have made.) Knead dough on a lightly floured surface with floured hands, lightly reflouring work surface and your hands when dough becomes too sticky, until dough is smooth, soft, and elastic, about 10 minutes. Divide dough i...
Read more

"Light" Caesar Salad

By -
I'm not sure where the "light" comes from. But this was a really good classic Caesar dressing. We even had to resort to (haha) using powdered parmesan from the store and it was still classically good. 1/4   cup   (60 mL)  grated  Parmesan cheese 1/4   cup   (60 mL)  light mayonnaise 2   tbsp   (30 mL)  white wine vinegar 1   tbsp   (15 mL)  extra virgin olive oil 1   tbsp   (15 mL)  water 1   tbsp   (15 mL)  Dijon mustard 1   tsp   (5 mL)  Worcestershire sauce 1   clove garlic , minced 1   pinch   salt 1   pinch   pepper 8   cups   (2 L)  romaine lettuce , torn, 1 small head 1   cup   (250 mL)  prepared croutons 2   tbsp   (30 mL)  cooked  bacon , crumbled In jar, shake together Parmesan cheese, mayonnaise, vinegar, oil, water, mustard, Worcestershire sauce...
Read more