Lumaconi Rigati Al Forno

Although a bit time-consuming, this recipe is definitely a crowd pleaser – and somehow a great option for the weekend…

For a sauce that spectacular, I consider the bechamel easy. Ok, I have to admit it’s not like drinking a glass of water, but it needs very fee ingredients and it creates this jaw-dropping effect when it’s baked in the oven.

The lumaconi don’t form a flat surface when laid in the baking pan -as is the case of lasagne, for example- but the bechamel does its miracle again.

Laziness Factor 3

(where 0 is drawing a line and 4 is successfully copying Goya’s black paintings)

 

Ingredients for 6-8 servings:

– 500g lumaconi rigati

– 1 leek

– 1 broccoli

– 2 garlic cloves

– 250g mushrooms

– 250g bacon

– 250g cheese (a soft one that melts easily)

– salt, pepper, olive oil

 

For the bechamel sauce:

– 100g butter

– 100g white flour

– 2½ cup (500 ml) milk

– nutmeg, salt

To watch all the steps taken to prepare this delight, here’s a video version of the recipe:

1.

Slice the leek and put it in a pan with some olive oil over high heat.

Don’t start boiling the lumaconi yet. They will need less boiling than indicated on the package, because we are going to bake them anyway, which will make them soft enough.

2.

Wash the broccoli, cut off all its flower buds and add them to the pan. You can even slice the stem until the point where it seems to get harder, and add it too.

 

3.

Finely chop or crush the garlic and add it to the pan.

 

 

4.

Chop the mushrooms and add them, too.
Turn the heat down to medium.

 

5.

Slice the bacon and add it to the pan as well.

 

6.

This is the time to start boiling the lumaconi. You should calculate that they need more or less 2/3 of the indicated cooking time. So, if the package says “11′-13′”, you should cook them for 7-8 minutes.

 

7.

Take some time to dice the cheese. If you have it in slices, it’s alright, too.

 

8.

Start making the bechamel sauce. Melt the butter in a cooking pot over medium heat.

 

9.

When all the butter has melted, start adding the flour, stirring until smooth.

 

10.

Then add the milk, splashing a little every time and whisking thoroughly.

 

11.

In the end, you must have got a very smooth cream. Then add the nutmeg and some salt.

This is also a good moment to pre-heat your oven at 220°C.

 

12.

When the lumaconi are ready, drain them shaking the colander more than usually, because they tend to retain water because of their shape. Then lay them in a pyrex or other heat-resistant ceramic bowl.

Spread the contents of the pan on the lumaconi. Try to fill them up with the smallest ingredients.

 

13.

Lay the cheese on top of everything.

 

14.

Then pour the bechamel and lay it all over the surface using a spatula or similar utensil. Try to cover everything, because anything left exposed will burn more easily in the oven.

 

15.

Put the bowl in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until the bechamel turns brown.

 

16.

This is destined to please the vast majority of your guests… Bon appetit!

What is LazyPasta.com?

Lazy Pasta is the page to explore the world's collection of easy pasta recipes - and then some more elaborate ones. As our life has become faster, you can also try our quick recipes that use favourite pasta types like spaghetti, lasagne, fusilli and rigatoni, that are combined to create simple pasta dishes.

All the Lazy Pasta recipes are presented in photos, which guide through the step-by-step process, and they all end up with their respective pasta recipe video.

Categories of pasta recipes

Lazy Pasta recipes are divided into categories: there are vegetarian pasta recipes, pasta recipes with meat, pasta recipes with seafood and fish, pasta salads, pasta soups and recipes with baked pasta.

The recipe presented above is Lumaconi Rigati Al Forno and it belongs to the Pasta Bake recipes category.

Why pasta?

Pasta is a great ingredient for quick and delicious dishes. Perfect pasta dishes don't always have to be hard to prepare. According to Lazy Pasta there is "an easy pasta recipe for every human on the planet".

Although it's hard to tell which country pasta originates from (whether it's Italy or China), the history of pasta is long and interesting.

Truth be told, pasta has become popular as an ingredient of the Italian cuisine and it forms part of the Mediterranean diet. Pasta dishes can be ordered and devoured in various Italian restaurants all around the world.

The secret of the pasta may lie in its simplicity. It is usually made of white flour or wheat flour, but today we also have the options of whole wheat pasta and, more recently, gluten-free pasta.

Then again, the list of ingredients that can be used in a pasta recipe is endless; The sauce can be anything for a simple tomato sauce to bechamel sauce, white sauce with cream or other dressings. Garlics and onions are great friends of pasta, vegetables and other greens like parsley, dill, spinach, zucchini, peppers, broccoli and mint can be found in various recipes, while cheese is an absolute ticket to success, either grated, sliced or baked on top.

No matter how elaborate a pasta recipe is, the result can be mouth-watering and is certain to please everyone's palate.