Rigatoni and Cheese With Peas and Mint is a perfect dinner to make in advance and cook at the end of a hard day. Who doesn’t love a pasta bake? Baked pasta is the heartiest, most comforting, crowd-pleasing meal and this one is no exception with a rich bechamel sauce and not one but two types of cheese.
To make this bake, start by preparing the béchamel sauce. Stir in Parmesan and Cheddar cheeses and an egg. While you heat the oven, cook rigatoni pasta to al dente. Don’t worry, the pasta will continue to cook while baking in the oven. Mix the cooked pasta with the sauce and peas and add spinach, herbs and salami. Assemble the pasta bake and add ricotta cheese and lemon zest before baking in the oven. Serve garnished with chopped parsley and mint.
To make Rigatoni and Cheese With Peas and Mint, you will need the following ingredients:
Place ¼ cup of butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add ¼ cup of flour and whisk together with the butter for a minute or two.
Gradually pour in 4 cups of milk and whisk continuously as it comes to a simmer. Once the sauce is simmering, reduce the heat to medium and cook, while whisking continuously for about 10 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Remove from the heat.
Add 1 cup of Cheddar cheese and 1 cup of Parmesan. Whisk the cheese into the sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste.
Whisk in 1 large egg until it is fully incorporated. Cover sauce and keep warm until you are ready to use it.
Preheat the oven to 375 °F and lightly butter a 9-inch baking pan. Dust it all over with ⅓ cup of Parmesan.
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook pasta according to the package directions. Stir occasionally and remove from the heat when almost al dente.
Add peas to the pasta water and leave to sit for about 1 minute until just tender. Drain the peas and pasta and set to one side.
Combine the pasta and peas with the cheese sauce.
Add 2 cups of spinach, 1 cup of parsley, and ½ cup of mint and ¼ - ½ a cup of salami to the pasta mixture. Stir well until fully incorporated.
Spoon half of the pasta into the lightly greased pan. Dot half of the ricotta cheese over the top of the pasta and sprinkle with half of the lemon zest. Transfer the remaining pasta to the pan and dot with the rest of the ricotta. Sprinkle the remaining lemon zest on top along with the rest of the Parmesan.
Bake for around about 40 minutes until bubbling and golden brown. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 20-30 minutes.
Serve wedges of the pasta bake garnished with chopped parsley and mint.
This Rigatoni and Cheese With Peas and Mint recipe is a delicious pasta bake that the whole family will love! Try it soon and make sure you tag your pasta bakes with the #cookmerecipes hashtag.
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