Tik tok pasta with baked goat and boursin cheese, asparagus, tomatoes and olives

I only recently learned about this tiktok pasta craze ! It was made popular by a Finnish blogger in 2019 and called uunifetapasta .  I am quite late to the game :) My sister told me she had made variations of it with Boursin cheese and Trader Joe’s spinach artichoke dip as a base for the sauce. 

I decided to give it a try since I had recently bought some goat cheese and new type of pasta I wanted to try. It was called Ronzoni and was made with rice/corn/quinoa. 

Ingredients:

Ronzoni rotini - cooked according to the directions on the box ( cooked for 14-15 min) - al dente - 2 cups 

A block of plain goat cheese - 8 oz

Herbed Boursin cheese - 1/2 package 

Asparagus - 15 spears - cut into three pieces ( discard the bottom third and use the top 2 pieces )

Tomato- 1 box cherry tomatoes- since I didn’t have these I used half a large tomato and cut it into cubes 

Olives - small 1.2 oz cup sliced into halves 

Olive oil- 1/4-1/3 cup 

Garlic cloves - 2 chopped into small pieces 

Fresh basil (or dried italian seasoning)- a bunch 

Salt

Pepper 

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta according to the instructions on the box. Drain it and save 1 cup of the pasta water ( to use later) 

2. Preheat oven to 400 F

3. Take a large oven safe dish and drizzle two tablespoons of olive oil.Place the asparagus, olives, tomatoes, garlic cloves in the periphery of the dish and drizzle olive oil on top and heat it in the oven for 15 min.

4. Place the cheese in the middle of the dish. 

5. Cook the cheese and the vegetables in the oven for 20 more minutes until the cheese is bubbly.

6. Take the dish out of the oven. Add the pasta little by little into the dish and mix the vegetables, cheese and pasta together. Add a little pasta water to make the pasta creamy. 

7. Add salt, pepper and herbs. 

8. Pasta is ready to serve !!

Rich’s mac and cheese recipe

Rich has been telling me about this awesome Mac and cheese he used to make when he worked in Colorado  since I met him 6 years ago and now finally he made this for me and it was worth the wait ! 

Ingredients 

Elbow macaroni ( we used the brown rice and quinoa kind ) -1 pound 

Salt - 2 tsp or to taste 

Sauce :

Unsalted butter - 1 stick ( plus 2 tsp)

All purpose flour - 1/2 cup ( can use other thickeners if you have celiac disease)

Whole milk - 6 cups 

Cayenne pepper - 1/4 tsp 

Cheddar cheese ( grated ) - 8 oz ( 3 cups ) - we used a cup each of cheddar , gruyere , havarti and package of plain cream cheese 

Paprika - 1/2 tsp 

Garlic powder-1/2 tsp

Onion powder -1/2 tsp

Topping 

Panko bread crumbs - 1 cup 

Paprika - 1/2 tsp 

Garlic powder - 1/2 tsp 

Onion powder - 1/2 tsp 

Olive oil - ( extra virgin olive oil ) - 1/4 cup

Mix all of these together for topping 

Instructions 

1. Preheat oven to 375 F

2. Coat the inside of a 3 quart casserole dish with 2 tsp of butter and set aside 

3. Place a deep pot of salted water on the stove and bring to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until tender but firm ( al dente)

4. When done drain the water out using a colander and put in the casserole dish5. While the pasta is boiling make the cheese sauce 

6. In a medium heavy bottomed saucepan melt the stick of butter ( on medium heat)

7. Stir in the flour and whisk it constantly until it is thickened into a blonde roux ( about 4 minutes)

8. Add the salt and 1/2 tsp cayenne to it and stir. 

9. Add the garlic powder, paprika, onion powder to the mixture and stir

10.Now gradually add the cold milk whisking constantly until the mixture thickens ( about 4 min)

11.  Bring to a simmer and now add the cheeses whisking until the cheese is melted completely 

12. Remove from the heat 

13. Carefully pour the cheese sauce over the macaroni 

14. Gently stir / fold it in so that all the macaroni pieces are coated in the cheese sauce 

15. Place the topping mixture on top of the macaroni and spread evenly

16. Bake for about 20 minutes until the topping is golden brown 

17. Mac and cheese is ready to serve 

Penne pasta with roasted red pepper sauce

I had a lot of red, yellow and orange bell peppers at the house and wanted to use them up . I talked to my sister who suggested either a stuffed pepper or a roasted red pepper sauce with pasta . I chose the latter since it had been a while since I last had pasta. For the pasta I used a brown rice and quinoa pasta but any kind of pasta can be used. I looked around and found this recipe for roasted red pepper pasta by Pioneer woman and adapted it for my recipe.

Sauce :

Ingredients :

Bell peppers - 3 or 4 

Onion - 1/2 chopped into cubes 

Garlic - 4 to 5 cloves 

Cream/ whole milk / milk - 1/2 cup 

Vegetable stock - 2 cups 

Salt to taste 

Pepper 

Basil / parsley - fresh or dried 

Butter/ olive oil for sautéing the vegetables 

Instructions: 

1. Turn on the broil setting of the oven to high 

2. Cut the bell peppers in half remove the seeds

3. Place them cut side  down on a foil lined baking sheet

4.Broil for about 8-10 minutes until the skin is blackened and blistered 

5. Now place the peppers in a container and place a lid on it for about 10 minutes 

6. This allows the peppers to cook in the steam and soften further 

7. Now remove the peel of the peppers and chop them in to cubes 

NOW we have roasted red peppers. IF I had planned ahead I could have gotten a jar of roasted red peppers in a jar ready to go!!

8. Place a sauce pan on medium heat and add a couple of tablespoons of butter to it and let it melt

9. Add the chopped onion and sauté until translucent 

10. Add the garlic cloves and sauté for 30 sec- 1 min

11. Now add the cubed roasted red peppers and sauté well for a few minutes 

12. Add salt and pepper and sauté 

13. Now add the mixture along with 1/2 cup of broth to the blender and blend into a smooth paste  ( Keep the sauce pan aside to use soon)

14.  Now add a couple of tablespoons of butter to the pan and let it melt. Turn the heat down to medium.

15. Add the roasted pepper puree and add another cup of vegetable broth and mix and let it het up for a couple of minutes.

16. Add salt and pepper to taste, add your herbs ( I added basil and parsley flakes). Add the cream in and mix it in.

17. Sauce is now ready!

Pasta

I used a penne pasta ( you can use any kind of pasta . We chose a brown rice and quinoa pasta)

Take a deep pot and fill it with half to 2/3 with water 

Add a couple of teaspoons of salt to the water

Let the water come to a boil

Cook pasta according to package instructions.

Drain the pasta using a colander and run cold water over the pasta to stop the cooking process

Set aside

To serve:

Place the pasta on a plate or bowl.

Spoon over the desired amount of sauce on the pasta.

Shave some fresh parmesan or sprinkle grated Parmesan 

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Penne pasta with roasted red pepper sauce is ready to eat.