Baked Bacon & Spinach Penne Rigate

An inspiration from all-time favorite and convenient comfort dish Mac ‘n’ Cheese, made with Custom Culinary^® Gold Label Cream Soup Base and fresh grated cheese blends filled with goodness of sautéed spinach and a smoky twist of hickory smoked bacon.

Made with:

Custom Culinary^® Gold Label Cream Soup Base

What You'll Need

Amount	Ingredients
400 g	Penne Rigate Pasta (Dry)
200 g	Hickory smoked bacon, cubed
	For Spinach Mix
15 g	Garlic, chopped
15 g	Olive oil
100 g	Baby spinach leaves
	For Cheese Sauce
80 g	Custom Culinary^® Gold Label Cream Soup Base
450 g	Whole milk
150 kg	Water
100 ml	Cheddar cheese, grated
100 g	Gouda cheese, grated
50 g	Parmesan cheese, grated
125 g	Onions, sliced
20 g	Garlic, sliced
	Salt & crushed black pepper to taste

Preparation

Cook Penne Rigate al dente and keep aside
Prepare the spinach mix by sautéing the garlic and spinach with olive oil in a sauté pan. Keep aside
Cook the cubed bacon bits until the fat is rendered and it becomes crisp. Divide the bacon into two equal portions, drain the bacon fat and keep aside
In a bowl mix together all the 3 grated cheese. Separate 100g of it and keep aside
Heat the bacon fat in a saucepan, add the sliced onions and garlic. Sauté till it caramelizes
Add the whole milk, bring it to a boil gently
Prepare a slurry of the Custom Culinary^® Gold Label Cream Soup Base and water
Add the slurry to the mix and keep mixing continuously. As the sauce boils & thickens bring down the heat and simmer for 1 minute. Keep mixing gently
Add the 150g of the cheese mix to the sauce and gently mix it on how heat until it is mixed completely. Season with salt & crushed pepper as required
Add one half of the bacon, sautéed spinach and the cooked pasta to the sauce and mix well
Transfer the pasta and sauce mix to a baking dish, top it up with the remaining bacon and grated cheese
Bake in a preheated oven for 10 minutes at 180°C, serve hot