Penne with Tomato, Cream, & Five Cheeses
Submitted by att29
Penne with tomato, cream and five cheeses, parboiled pasta tossed in a tomato-cream sauce loaded with pecorino, fontina, gorgonzola, ricotta and mozzarella, then baked hot until bubbling and browned. A restaurant classic.
YIELD
4 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
20 minREADY
30 minThis is the famous five-cheese baked penne that made the rounds from restaurant menus to home kitchens, and one taste tells you why. Each of the five cheeses pulls its weight: sharp pecorino, melty fontina, funky gorgonzola, creamy ricotta and stretchy mozzarella.
They are all stirred into heavy cream and pureed tomato with fresh basil to make a rich, tangy sauce.
Here is the clever part. The penne is only parboiled for four minutes, well shy of done, then tossed with the sauce and baked in a screaming-hot oven. The half-cooked pasta finishes in the oven, drinking up the cream sauce as it bakes and browning at the edges.
Baking it in individual gratin dishes gives everyone their own bubbling, golden-topped portion. It comes together fast, since most of the work is just grating cheese.
Chef Tips
- Undercook the penne to exactly four minutes. It needs to stay firm so it can finish and absorb the sauce in the oven without going mushy.
- Get the oven fully up to temperature before the pasta goes in. The high heat is what browns the top in just a few minutes.
- Grate and crumble all the cheeses before you boil the pasta, so you can move fast once it is drained.
Variations
- Not a gorgonzola fan? Swap it for more fontina or a milder blue cheese.
- Stir in cooked pancetta, sausage or sauteed mushrooms for a heartier bake.
- Bake it in one large dish if you do not have individual gratins, adding a few minutes to the time.
Ingredients
Directions
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees Bring 5 quarts of salted water to a boil in a stockpot. In a mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients except the penne and butter. Stir well to combine. Drop the penne into the boiling water and parboil for 4 minutes. Drain in a colander and add to the ingredients in the mixing bowl, tossing to combine. Divide the pasta mixture among six to eight individual, shallow, ceramic gratin dishes (1 and one half to 2 cup capacity). Dot with the butter and bake until bubbly and brown on top, 7 to 10 minutes.
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