pasta bake

[Celt]

Howdya know my name is phyliss?

 

[Detroit City]

just cooked one and it was bloody horrible!

how can lasagna be horrible?

 

[Tank Girl]

Homepride pasta bake sauce makes lovely pasta bake

YES! it does

 

[lil-Pixie]

I've tried the homepride bake sauces and they do turn out well, but I think that pasta is best served immediately after its been boiled to perfection rather than baked in an oven with the top layer getting slightly crispy. Also I think that its a bit of a waste of electricity/gas as its usually 40/45 mins in the oven which is an extra 30mins of unnecessary energy use.

Not that unnecessary energy use is my normal priority when cooking something if it turns out wonderful, but if its below par I take it into consideration.

I make a fabulous lasagne from proper egg lasagne sheets which are fresh rather than dried and that takes quite a long time in the oven, but its worth it.

 

[Orang Utan]

how can lasagna be horrible?

Pasta bake, not lasagne - it can be horrible too though

 

[Orang Utan]

Premade sauces = bad, apart from those stir through Sacla (sp?) sauces

 

[lil-Pixie]

Premade sauces = bad, apart from those stir through Sacla (sp?) sauces

They are so tasty, I *heart* Sacla sauces. I did find a really good one in Costcos though, and I usually hate all pre-made sauces but it was soooo good. Twas a tomato and marscapone sauce, I really must get back there and buy more tubs.

 

[Herbsman.]

haven't seen sacla sauces for a long time

then again i havent been in a 'proper' supermarket for a long time either

 

[Epona]

Yes, but why go to all the trouble to make some nice pasta and sauce, only to ruin it by cooking it again and drying it out. It's food for adulterers,. reheated a couple of hours after it was cooked with love, but now all crunchy with guilt and betrayal

If it's drying out or going soggy, you're doing it wrong

Pasta Bake is lovely hearty winter food, I admit it doesn't work on a hot summer day - now that's when you want your pasta and your sauce not baked! Winter comfort food is, I feel, sadly misunderstood

 

[tarannau]

Pasta bake's not great in Winter though imo- it's just a slightly crisp pasta dish, rarely baked long enough to get the rich, warmingly deep flavours of a decent stew for example. Generally it's just another convenient way of serving pasta with a bit of melted cheese.

 

[dash_two]

Pasta bake is the staple of the workplace canteen. It's alright for a mid-week supper too IMO.

 

[Epona]

Generally it's just another convenient way of serving pasta with a bit of melted cheese.

There you go, that sort of proves the whole point of the pasta bake right there! Pasta with a sauce can get a bit samey when all you have in is pasta, tomatoes, garlic, herbs, and cheese and you're still a week off payday - so doing it a different way alleviates the culinary boredom.

 

[zenie]

Pasta Bakes are lovely!

I think my macaroni cheese is a pasta bake cos I put it in the oven and add tomatoes - fuckin lush though

What's not to like?

 

[Herbsman.]

Pasta bake's not great in Winter though imo- it's just a slightly crisp pasta dish, rarely baked long enough to get the rich, warmingly deep flavours of a decent stew for example. Generally it's just another convenient way of serving pasta with a bit of melted cheese.

My pasta bake is excellent in Winter. And it is baked for long enough to get rich, warmingly deep flavours.

Haven't made any since I turned vegan though it relied on cream and cheese.

Not all pasta bakes are the same... it all depends on the ingredients, the cook and the recipe...

 

[Mrs Miggins]

They are so tasty, I *heart* Sacla sauces

Hmmmm.....interesting....might give them a try then as a store cupboard option for when I can't be arsed to cook.

The really funny thing is that if someone in real life told me that Scala sauces were all right I'd usually dismiss them as fools but if someone in Suburban says it...that has become a different matter

 

[Santino]

If you are having difficulty liking pasta bake because it seems a bit proletarian try calling it pasta al forno.

 

[May Kasahara]

Premade sauces = bad, apart from those stir through Sacla (sp?) sauces

Those stir-through sauces are grim. The mascarpone one is like someone's jizzed all over your penne.

Co-op make quite a nice tomato and basil sauce in a jar - it's my hangover/comfort/period pains/can't be arsed food of choice, even though my own tomato sauce is naturally far superior.

 

[sojourner]

I don't trust pasta bakes

How can you put the pasta in dry, and it come out perfectly? It can't can it? Even though it's in a sauce, it's not in water, is it?

 

[tarannau]

I'm actually quite disappointed, nay near outraged, in OU for recommending Sacla sauces. They are marginally better than the rest, particuarly the likes of Dolmio, but they're strictly lazy resort only. And he's usually such a food snob too.


Any stir in sauce with cheese in a fucking jar is bound to be grim.

 

[Mrs Miggins]

haha!! I think I'll go back to not trusting a bloody thing I read on the internet then - safe in the knowledge that all instant sauces are shite

 

[milesy]

I don't trust pasta bakes

How can you put the pasta in dry, and it come out perfectly? It can't can it? Even though it's in a sauce, it's not in water, is it?

<science>sauces can have water in them. </science>

 

[Santino]

I don't trust pasta bakes

How can you put the pasta in dry, and it come out perfectly? It can't can it? Even though it's in a sauce, it's not in water, is it?

And yet it does. Empiricism trounces rationalism once again.

 

[sojourner]

<science>sauces can have water in them. </science>

fuck off milesy

 

[sojourner]

And yet it does. Empiricism trounces rationalism once again.

Does what?

Come out perfectly? What, as perfectly as boiling the pasta in boiling water until its al dente, and then pouring over a perfectly good sauce?

 

[milesy]

fuck off milesy

 

[Xanadu]

I had a lloyd grosman ready made pasta sauce once. It was actually edible. Makes a change from dolmio

I like M&S green pesto.

 

[Sunray]

You are meant to cover the dish with foil or a lid while its cooking. If you don't the pasta will just dry out and become inedible. At the end of the process you can then sprinkle some cheese on top and grill it quickly.

 

[tarannau]

Which begs the question - why not just cook it as normal (ie in water or on hob, where you get far greater control) and then grill the thing afterwards?

 

[Orang Utan]

I'm actually quite disappointed, nay near outraged, in OU for recommending Sacla sauces. They are marginally better than the rest, particuarly the likes of Dolmio, but they're strictly lazy resort only. And he's usually such a food snob too.


Any stir in sauce with cheese in a fucking jar is bound to be grim.

I recommend the aubergine one - can't say I've had any of the others

 

[sojourner]

Which begs the question - why not just cook it as normal (ie in water or on hob, where you get far greater control) and then grill the thing afterwards?

Quite

Seems to take even more time than cooking as normal. Don't get it