Baked Jambalaya Pasta

Baked pasta dishes shout out comfort food. This one is no different. This is a variation on our baked ziti recipe that uses the ingredients from our pasta jambalaya. As luck would have it, we had leftover ingredients when we were developing the pasta jambalaya recipe and needed to use them up. Having a solid baked ziti recipe, we set out to use the leftover ingredients and retool the classic baked ziti and are very pleased with the outcome and expect you will be as well.

This recipe uses the Casa M Jambalaya Sauce as an ingriedent. If you don't have any on hand, make this first. It takes about 90 minutes including prep time. From there it's all downhill. Parcooking the pasta means cooking for 1/2 the time on the package so it finishes cooking in the oven as you bake it. Get good quality cheeses and you will be very pleased with the simplicity and taste of this finished dish.

As always, from our table to yours... #SpiceConfidently #EssenceOfFlavor #ChemistryInTheKitchen #CasaMSpice

— Mike Hernandez

ingredients

For the Filling:

1 pound whole milk cottage cheese
1 cup heavy cream
4 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
1 pound andouille sausage
1/2 pound Canadian bacon
4 eggs, beaten

For the Sauce:

32 ounces Casa M Jambalaya Sauce
28 ounces fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 Tablespoon Casa M Spice Co® Uncontrolled Chain Reaction®
1 Tablespoon Casa M Spice Co® Chain Reaction®
1 Tablespoon Casa M Spice Co® Cattle Drive®

Pulling It All Together:

1 pound rotini or other pasta
8 ounces smoked gruyère cheese, grated
8 ounces provalone cheese, slices

FEATURED QUOTE

After half the time listed on the pasta, remove from the heat, drain, and rinse the pasta with cold water to stop it from cooking. Overcooking here will lead to mushy pasta that won't hold up in the baking process.

- Mike Hernandez

LET’S GET COOKING

1.
Preheat the oven to 350°F conventonal or 325°F convection bake.
2.
Par-cook the pasta by adding it to a pot of boiling, salted water and cooking for 1/2 the time listed on the pasta. After half the time listed on the pasta, remove from the heat, drain, and rinse the pasta with cold water to stop it from cooking. Overcooking here will lead to mushy pasta that won't hold up in the baking process.
3.
Drain the pasta well. Dry your pot by placing it back on the stove with no heat, but the same burner you used. You will be combining the pasta and filling and sauce in this pot.
4.
Mix the filling and prepare your baking dish. Add the cottage cheese to a large mixing bowl along with the cream, the Parmesan cheese, and the beaten eggs. Mix well. Grease a deep 13" x 9" baking dish well with olive oil.
5.
To the pot you cooked the pasta in add the dried, cooked pasta, the meats, the sauce ingredients, and the filling and mix well to get everything well distributed.
6.
Transfer the mixture into your baking dish, top with the gruyère and provolone cheeses, and put it into the oven.
7.
Cook for 45 minutes and then start checking the oven every 15 minutes to see when you get to the point where the top is golden brown and the dish is bubbling everywhere and the cheeses are all melted uniformly. If you brown too quickly and need more time to cook through to get all bubbly and set, put foil over the top.
8.
Remove from the oven and let it cool for at least 20 minutes. It needs to set before you cut into it or it will "slouch" as you're serving it.
9.
Serve with a little more parmesan and a little Tabasco on the side and enjoy!