Creamy Pasta Bake

Name: Creamy Pasta Bake
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 6
Ingredients: Rigatoni 1.1 lbs; Provola cheese 10 oz; Mixed mushrooms frozen 1.1 lbs; Garlic 1 clove; Fine salt to taste; Parsley to taste; Extra virgin olive oil to taste; Black pepper to taste; Whole milk 4.3 cups; Type 00 flour 0.67 cup; Butter 7 tbsp; Nutmeg to taste; Fine salt to taste

Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 40 min
Serving: 6
Cost: Average

PRESENTATION

Creamy Pasta Bake comes into its own the moment the weather turns—béchamel pulling everything into a rich, cohesive sauce, mushrooms adding earthy depth, and provola forming a golden, stringy crust across the top as it bakes. It comes out of the oven still bubbling, and it lands on the table as exactly what a cold-weather Sunday lunch should be.

The mushroom flexibility is genuinely useful: this pasta al forno with mushrooms works just as well with frozen ones as with fresh seasonal varieties—including any you may have stashed away after a particularly good foraging day. Either way, the béchamel holds the pasta together in a creamy, enveloping sauce, and the provola does its job on top: melting into long pulls and browning into a crust that seals in everything underneath.

INGREDIENTS

Rigatoni 1.1 lbs (500 g)

Provola cheese 10 oz (280 g)

Mixed mushrooms 1.1 lbs (500 g) - frozen

Garlic 1 clove

Fine salt to taste

Parsley to taste

Extra virgin olive oil to taste

Black pepper to taste

For the béchamel: Whole milk 4.3 cups (1 l); Type 00 flour 0.67 cup (80 g); Butter 7 tbsp (100 g); Nutmeg to taste; Fine salt to taste

Preparation

How to prepare Creamy Pasta Bake

To prepare the creamy pasta bake start with the béchamel. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat 1, then add the flour all at once 2 and whisk until you obtain a smooth roux. At this point add the milk little by little 3, continuing to whisk to prevent lumps.

Season with salt 4, flavor with grated nutmeg 5 and stir again until you obtain a smooth, slightly thick consistency 6.

Meanwhile, chop the parsley leaves with a knife 7 and move on to the mushrooms. In a large pan pour in the oil, add the garlic and the parsley stems 8, then add the mushrooms still frozen 9.

Season with salt 10 and pepper 11, then let them cook over high heat until tender and well seasoned. When the mushrooms are soft and their cooking liquid has partly evaporated, remove the garlic 12.

Also remove the parsley stems 13. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta 14. In the meantime, grate the provola 15.

Drain the pasta al dente and transfer it directly into the pan with the mushrooms 16, then add the béchamel 17 and mix well so the sauce coats the pasta evenly 18.

Now assemble. Pour a first layer of pasta into a baking dish 19, sprinkle part of the grated provola 20, then continue with a second layer of pasta 21.

Finish with more provola on top 22, until the baking dish is ready for cooking 23. Bake under the broiler at 446°F for 5 minutes or until a golden, inviting crust forms on the surface. Remove from the oven and serve the creamy pasta hot, melty and gratinated 34.