One of the quickest pasta dishes cooked in Greece is the Pasta Soufflé. It is a variation of the Italian carbonara and since it takes just about one hour until it is ready and the ingredients are easy to find it is an ideal choice for bachelors and students. Although this is a winter dish, it can be prepared throughout the year. Let’s see the recipe for four people:
Ingredients
- 250gr bacon (a healthier alternative would be using smoked turkey)
- 50 gr olive oil
- 500gr mushrooms (usually I use champignon mushrooms)
- 300gr heavy cream
- 1 egg
- 200 gr cream cheese
- 1 packet of tagliatelle boiled (according to the instructions on the packet)
- Salt
- Pepper
- Thyme (it is not mandatory)
- 200 gr grated cheese ( you can use cheddar, gruyere or any other yellow cheese that you like)
- 200 gr feta cheese chopped
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 200 oC or 350 Fahrenheit.
- Boil the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.
- Take a medium sized saucepan, put it on medium heat and wait until it gets very hot.
- Chop the bacon to small pieces (or slightly bigger if you wish).
- Add the bacon to the saucepan along with half the olive oil and sauté until you see that starts changing color. The desired color is the gold.
- Remove the saucepan from the heat and let it aside.
- Slice the mushrooms into very thin pieces and add them to the saucepan along with the rest of the olive oil.
- Add salt and pepper and sauté for about 7 minutes (maybe a bit more depending on the heat of your appliance).
- In another bowl, mix the egg with the heavy cream. Add salt, pepper and 150 gr of cheese. If you wish to add thyme add it to this mixture. Make sure that you mix them well.
- In the bowl that you mixed the egg with the heavy cream, add the boiled pasta and the mixture in your saucepan (bacon and mushrooms). Mix them well so that all the ingredients are well mingled.
- Transfer the mixture into a medium sized baking dish and spread evenly.
- Take the feta cheese and chop it into small pieces ( you can also do it with your hand. Place the feta cheese on top of the pasta surface.
- Add the remaining grated cheese.
Baking
There are two ways of baking depending on how strong your oven is. If your oven is very strong, you need to cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for about 20 minutes. Then remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 15 minutes until it is golden.
If your oven is not very strong, you do not need to cover the baking dish with aluminum foil. Just bake the pasta for about 40-45 minutes.
Enjoy with a glass of good wine!
