If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you may recall that in addition to working on this blog, I’m also an attorney. It’s not a full-time gig for me; the work I do tends to be cyclical, and I mostly jump in on a temporary basis when things get busy for the firm I work with. I just started back up with them this week, and it’s always a bit of an adjustment to figure out how to balance the job with the blog. I’m going to do my best to keep up with my normal posting schedule here, but if for some reason I can’t and posts seem to be coming a little less frequently, you know why.
As a result of my new schedule, I now get home from work almost 2 hours later than Shane does. Even if I started dinner when I walked in the door, we wouldn’t be eating until close to 8 pm every night, which isn’t ideal. Since he has more time, Shane volunteered to step up and help get dinner on the table. When I did our meal plan for the week, I checked with him to make sure he’d be comfortable preparing the recipes I selected. Though I generally do most of the cooking, Shane’s very competent in the kitchen so I knew he’d be fine!
Of this week’s meals, he was most excited to try this fontina and mascarpone baked pasta, and who could blame him for that? Is there anyone who doesn’t love mac and cheese? It’s one of the very best comfort foods out there, and there are endless variations so you’ll never run out of recipes to try. This was the first time I’ve had the combination of fontina and mascarpone in mac and cheese, and it definitely worked. The dish was rich and creamy and it was finished with a garlicky breadcrumb topping. And can I just tell you how nice it is to come home and find dinner on the table? I could get used to that 🙂
Fontina and Mascarpone Baked Pasta
adapted from Cooking Light: Cooking through the Seasons
1 pound uncooked penne
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups low-fat milk
2 cups (8 oz) shredded fontina cheese
1/4 cup (2 oz) mascarpone cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 oz panko breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 small garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain and keep warm.
Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 13×9 baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Combine the flour and milk in a large saucepan set over medium heat. Cook, whisking constantly, for 10-12 minutes, or until the mixture thickens slightly. Remove the pan from the heat and add the cheeses, salt and pepper. Stir until smooth. Add the cooked pasta and toss to coat. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.
In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook briefly – just until the garlic is fragrant, about 15-30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat and add the breadcrumbs. Stir to coat.
Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the pasta. Bake for 25 minutes, or until the sauce bubbles around the edges. Sprinkle with parsley before serving.
Makes me hungry and wanna make right away.
OOO!!! I like this. I know how it is, right now, not to nave time to cook and eat at a decent hour. THis looks perfect for making ahead and just finishing later. Thanks for this one. Looks wonderful.
In our house Peter and I share kitchen work (although I’m the dishwasher). It’s a good system. Yes, indeed, this fontina and mascarpone concoction sounds wonderful. I don’t know how I can find time to make all the great things bloggers post.
I love Mascarpone but don’t buy it often. It’s nice to have someone helping in the kitchen.
This is perfect for this time of year! Ryan’s great at helping in the kitchen when needbe too! Glad you’re getting some good help–he obviously did well on this one! 🙂
You’ve got a good man! My boyfriend has no problem waiting for me to come home to cook dinner, no matter how late. And if I don’t feel like cooking when I finally get home, he will just get something from Taco Bell. He’s finally realizing how good he had it now that he is 2.5 hours away. But anyway, I have never had mascarpone in mac and cheese, what a great idea!
I don’t eat much pasta, but this recipe looks so tasty. It’s comfort food at its best.
I have to try this! My husband is addicted to pasta and trying to find new recipes is getting harder! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for picking out a tasty recipe, I was more than happy to help out!
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I could live on mac&cheese and this version looks AMAZING.
I was just thinking how I needed a new pasta bake! Awesome. You’ve saved me time.
Yum. I love to see different variations of mac&cheese. Fontina is a great cheese for this dish.
I’m slocly starting to like cheese. I used to hate it, but now I dont mind it so much. This fontina cheese bake pasta looks really delicious. Melty cheese is the way to go.
This is one decadent and tasty looking cheesy pasta! When I started having to allocate my partner cooking days (which initially I was hesitant about because, well, he’s so damn messy) the first thing he chose was a pasta made with baked Camembert – it seems men drift towards pasta and cheese! And who can blame them?
This sounds great! I bet it’s super creamy with the mascarpone in there.
What a great combination for mac n cheese! What a great hubby to step in. He needs to do a couple guests posts for his successful dinners!
Im rather jealous that you have a helper. Im not getting home until 9 or later tonight and Handsome just said he would wait… lol. Not even pick up a pizza. This pasta sounds delicious and like an awesome way to mix up mac and cheese.
Wow, Shane did an awesome job! I love being in the kitchen too, but it is nice to have someone cook for you once in a while.
Wow, someone else in the house to get dinner started? What an idea! =P To be honest, J is a fine sous-chef, and certainly won’t starve, but dinner definitely seems to wait for me to walk in the door, whenever that is. Maybe if I tell him that I’m making this, J can at least remember to get a pot of water boiling. =)
Fontina and mascarpone are great creamy melting cheeses-perfect for mac and cheese. I love a bit of tang in mine though so I think that I would have to add some extra sharp cheddar or gruyere. I love a creamy cheesy pasta on a cold fall night so I think that this will have to be made this week.
The Dinner Belle for Kimberlybelle.com
This looks so so tasty! Yum, definitely makes me want to go make some mac and cheese. 🙂
I’m always wishing I had more time for the blog…I struggle to balance it with work. Kudos to Shane for helping with the dinner duties! That pasta looks like something I’d like to come home to after a long day at work. 🙂
Go Shane! The casserole looks delicious. I would love to walk in the door and have this waiting on the table! I’m the solo dinner cook these days, but my husband is always ready to cook on weekends. Granted, it’s a very limited repertoire, but I’m not complaining!
I was just thinking how this recipe sounded amazing but couldn’t possibly be diet-friendly with the fontina and mascarpone… I’m glad I was wrong. This looks great!
Love how the casserole looks. I can only imagine how it would taste. I discovered your blog researching mascarpone. Thx for the info.