A Good Day for Baked Pasta

Today indeed started good for me.  There's no tinge of morning sickness today (well, none yet!) and to celebrate, I thought of cooking up a wonderful lunch for Brandon and Trixie.  It has been very difficult for me the past weeks because of all-day-sickness (hence, the lack of acitivity in my site...), but I'm hoping for better days ahead.  I decided to make Baked Pasta today, and I'm sharing with you this fabulous cheese topping recipe that I adapted from PinoyCook.  I've done this several times already, making changes every time and finally, this is the tweaked recipe that truly satisfied me.  You can use this cheesy topping for any type of pasta to be baked, i.e. baked macaroni, spaghetti, ziti, lasagna.... This topping truly makes a big difference, kicking the pasta up a notch.  It really makes the pasta more special.  Here's the recipe:



Cheese Topping for Baked Pasta
Yield:  Just enough to top pasta in a big rectangular baking dish

Ingredients:
40g unsalted butter (3/4 of 1/4 cup butter)
1.5 tbsp. flour
1/2 cup water
1 cup fresh milk
1/2 bar Philadelphia cream cheese, cut into small cubes
1/3 bar Eden cheese, cut into small cubes
Salt and Pepper
Dried Basil or Fresh Basil

Procedure:
Melt butter in a small saucepan until frothy.
Put in all the flour and cook until light brown and until flour exudes a nice smell (but not burnt).
Add in the water without lowering the heat.  The mixture will suddenly boil up or bubble up but don't worry and keep on stirring.  Add the milk and continue stirring.
Add the two cheese and cook until melted and thick.  I use a silicon spatula for cooking this cheese sauce so I can scrape the pan properly to prevent burning.  As soon as the cheeses melt, turn off heat and season with salt and pepper.  Add lots of dried basil.

Place cooked pasta in a big rectangular baking dish (I usually combine the pasta and the sauce already) and pour this heavenly cheese sauce on top.  Be sure to cover the pasta completely by spreading to the edges.  Bake for 25 minutes at 350F.  The pasta will become bubbly and wonderful.  The cheese sauce will kinda set and I don't bake my pasta until golden brown, but it's up to you. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.