Baked pasta with saffron, an easy, quick and very tasty first course. If you crave something special but don’t have much time, saffron baked pasta with ham and cheese is the right solution to bring flavor, aroma, color and cheer to the table! This dish is ready in just a few minutes: you only need to prepare a simple béchamel sauce and enrich it with ZAFFERANO 3 CUOCHI, which I’ve been using for many years and it has never disappointed me. Then dress the pasta and assemble it in the baking dish with ham and cheese before baking it until golden. Easy, quick and delicious, this creamy and comforting dish is also perfect for festive occasions and will surely impress your guests! Let’s go to the kitchen and prepare the saffron baked pasta together—you’ll see how tasty it is! Before heading to the kitchen, as always, I remind you that if you want to stay updated on all my recipes you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here).
Also see:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Rest time: 1 Minute
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 5
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients for saffron baked pasta
- 1.1 lb short pasta
- 3 1/3 cups milk
- 3 1/2 tbsp butter
- 3/8 cup 00 flour
- 4 packets Zafferano 3 Cuochi (1 package of 0.60 g)
- 1 cup grated Parmesan (or Grana Padano)
- 10.6 oz cooked ham
- 14 oz provola (or mozzarella)
- to taste salt
Tools
- Bowls
- Baking dish
- Pots
- Whisk
Preparation
Start by putting the water on to boil for the pasta, then prepare the béchamel. Gently melt the butter in a pan and add the flour, letting it lightly brown. Begin pouring the milk a little at a time, stirring quickly to dissolve any lumps that may form. Once all the milk has been added, continue cooking until the béchamel thickens (it should be smooth and not too dense). Remove from the heat, season with salt and add the saffron dissolved in a little warm water or milk. Stir and set aside.
When the pasta is cooked but still al dente, drain it and toss it with 2/3 of the sauce, half of the cheese cubes and half of the ham cut into cubes. Spread half of the pasta into a large baking dish, sprinkle with grated cheese, add more cooked ham and cheese and a few tablespoons of béchamel, cover with the remaining pasta and distribute the rest of the ingredients. Finish with béchamel and grated cheese.
Bake for 15 minutes, just long enough to brown the top, then remove from the oven. Let rest for 10 minutes and serve.
Storage and tips
For a vegetarian version of this pasta, replace the ham with smoked provola and add peas or sautéed zucchini. Saffron baked pasta should be served hot and gooey; if you have leftovers, store them in the refrigerator and consume within 24 hours after reheating.
If you want to stay updated on my recipes, follow me also on:
Pinterest, X, TikTok and YouTube.
From here, you can return to the HOME and discover new recipes
