Sometimes I wish I could eat pasta every day of my life. Seriously – I would have no qualms about slurping down homemade trenette with pesto, pappardelle with a thick ragu, or grandma’s cheesy lasagna every single day of my life. This unrealistic infatuation with the mighty noodle happens to me every time I create a pasta dish that turns out perfect. By perfect, I mean every aspect of the dish fits together in gloriously delicious harmony, with a myriad of tastes and textures in every last bite.
This particularly perfect pasta recipe will prove that not all baked pasta dishes are vein-cloggingly (is that a word?) bad for you. Not all semolina that comes out of the oven must be covered with cream and cheese (not that I have anything against a good mac and chz). This baked dish combines first-of-the-season asparagus, fresh broccoli, roasted garlic and peas, with high-quality Asiago and Romano cheeses, and some homemade breadcrumbs. Not too unhealthy, right? I actually reasoned that it was healthy enough to take a rather large second serving.
One note – although it would be much quicker, don’t skip the roasting step. The caramelized vegetables are what makes this dish so special.
Ingredients for Baked Whole Wheat Orecchiette with Broccoli Asparagus and Peas
1 lb Whole Wheat Orecchiette (Farfalle, Fusilli or Penne would also work well – the important thing is that they are whole wheat)
About 1 pound of broccoli, cut into small florets. I kept some stems in there too, they taste great roasted.
About ½ pound of asparagus, cut at a diagonal into 2 inch pieces
5 cloves of garlic, peeled but left whole
½ bag of frozen peas, thawed (I really wish I had fresh peas in the house for this, but the frozen ones aren’t bad)
½ cup grated Asiago cheese
½ cup grated Romano cheese
1 cup of homemade breadcrumbs
Lemon juice from 1 lemon
Olive Oil
Sea salt and ground pepper
First – Prepare the Vegetables
Preheat the oven to 425F
I’ll probably mention this many, many times – make sure your vegetables are DRY before you roast them. It really makes a huge difference in how they cook,
Put the broccoli, asparagus and garlic on a baking sheet covered in foil. Add a generous amount of olive oil, salt and pepper. Toss with your hands to coat. Put in the top half of your oven for about 25 min. When it’s done, toss with your more expensive olive oil and the lemon juice.
Meanwhile – The Pasta and Breadcrumbs
Cook the orecchiette in salted boiling water until it’s almost done. When the pasta is about 4 min. away from being drained, add the peas to the boiling water. Drain and set aside.
I had a day-old loaf of whole wheat bread hanging around, so that’s what I used for the breadcrumbs. Take about a quarter of a loaf, and pulse it in a food processor. When it gets small, empty onto a foiled baking sheet, add a little olive oil, salt and pepper, and coat evenly.
Add it to the oven for just a few minutes. Normally I make breadcrumbs at a much lower heat, but since the oven was doing the important job of roasting the veggies, I made do and just kept an eye on the breadcrumbs. It took about 5 min.
Next – Assemble
Lower the heat of the oven to 350F
In a large roasting pan, add the cooked pasta, the vegetables, a good drizzle of olive oil, the Asiago cheese, and half of the Romano cheese. Add about ½ cup of the breadcrumbs.
Toss the pasta until it looks even. Sprinkle the rest of the Romano cheese and some more breadcrumbs on top.
Bake for about 20 min, or until golden with crispy edges. Serve with freshly crushed red pepper flakes.
This should make 5 large servings, but we were hungry, so it was enough for Alejandro and I for two dinners each. He insisted that I mention how this dish was just as good, if not better, on the second night.
