Who said baked pasta must necessarily be heavy and caloric? Baked penne rigate with provola and pumpkin have a delicate taste, and the only fats present in this dish are those from the cheese and butter. The pumpkin, in this recipe, is steamed to preserve its organoleptic properties, minerals, vitamins, and so on. It’s the ideal vegetarian dish for an important lunch, not only because it doesn’t weigh you down but also because it’s delicious.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter and Spring
Ingredients
- 9 oz Penne rigate
- 7 oz Smoked Provola
- 1 oz Grated table cheese
- 9 oz Pumpkin
- 1.7 cups Milk
- 1.5 tbsp Butter
- 0.7 oz All-purpose flour
- to taste Fine salt
- to taste Nutmeg
- to taste Ground pepper
Preparation
Wash and dice the pumpkin. Put it in a steamer basket (if you don’t have one, a large colander placed over a tall pot of boiling water that doesn’t touch the pumpkin works fine) and let it soften.
Remove the pumpkin from the pot but leave it in the basket so it loses some more liquid, and using the already boiling water, add the pasta, salt it, and cook the penne rigate for half the time indicated on the package. Then, drain it thoroughly.
Prepare the béchamel. Meanwhile, in a heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Once completely melted, add all the flour at once (previously sifted).Stir immediately (with a steel whisk or wooden spoon) to combine it with the butter for about 30 seconds until it forms a sort of cream. Finally, add all the cold milk, salt, ground pepper, and nutmeg and continue stirring until the béchamel starts to thicken. Turn off the heat immediately and remove it from the stove. Always cook the béchamel over low heat to prevent it from sticking to the pan or burning.
Grate the cheese and cut the provola into small pieces.
Preheat the oven to 392°F.
Grease the bottom of a baking dish with three tablespoons of béchamel.Make a first layer of pasta followed by one of pumpkin, provola, grated cheese, a bit of béchamel, and so on, until all ingredients are used up. Bake the pasta in the oven for about 20 minutes, finishing with the grill to create the crust that will make this delicately flavored dish even more appetizing.
