This baked pasta with goat cheese has a creamy sauce and gets even cheesier with the addition of fontina. The sweetness of the onions and the slight bitterness of radicchio take this cheesy pasta bake to the next level!
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This baked pasta with goat cheese is a little unexpected. It's not so typical. It's got radicchio for cryin' out loud. We don't use it enough in our cooking. So let's change that right now. And let's make dinner a little more whimsical and use cavatappi as our noodle.
Radicchio, red onion and balsamic vinegar are already such good friends, it only makes sense that they work so well together to cut through the creaminess of this goat cheese sauce with their sweet, tart, and bitter flavors.
Oftentimes when you're making a cheesy pasta bake, you need to make a roux, but that is not the case here. The goat cheese and heavy cream become the base of the sauce, then we'll add fontina cheese to make it nice and gooey. This is a pretty effortless recipe with a lot of reward in creamy, cheesy, bitter and sweet flavors.
Ingredients
- Cavatappi pasta noodles: What is cavatappi? It's a corkscrew shaped pasta with a hole in the middle. Like a corkscrew macaroni. You can also use other varieties of pasta with a hole in the middle like penne, or elbows.
- Radichhio: I love the bitterness of radicchio and how it pairs with sweet and salty flavors. It's a sturdy member of the chicory family and holds up well to long cooking. You'll find it near the other lettuces and cabbages in the produce section.
- Fontina cheese: This is another ingredient in this pasta that doesn't get enough love. It's nutty and melts really well, I like it better than mozzarella in many cases because it gets a little creamier.
- Goat cheese: Use a soft creamy goat cheese like chevre.
- Parmesan cheese: Please use real parmigiano reggiano
- Heavy cream
- Red onions
- Balsamic Vinegar
- Garlic
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt
How to make it
Adapted from Food & Wine.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
Set the goat cheese out on the counter to allow it to start softening as you cook the other ingredients.
Slice the radicchio into thin ribbons and soak in a bowl of water. This removes some of the bitterness. I learned this trick from Elizabeth Minchilli.
Use a good chef's knife and slice the onion into thin half-moons. Slice the garlic thinly.
Add the olive oil to a large non-stick skillet, and sauté onions over medium heat until caramelized and beginning to brown, about 25 minutes. If some of the onions are cooking faster than others, you can add a splash of water to the pan from time to time. I find this helps the caramelization as well since it softens the onions a bit.
Once the onions have been cooking for about 15 minutes, get a large pot and start the water to boil your pasta. Add enough salt so it "tastes like the sea".
While the onions are cooking, use a box grater to grate the fontina and parmesan cheese.
Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant and just beginning to become translucent, 1 - 2 minutes.
Drain the radicchio, then add it to the skillet and cook for 3 - 4 minutes until wilted. Add the balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt and stir to throughly combine.
The pasta water should be boiling by now. Add the noodles and cook until very al dente, 6 - 8 minutes.
Now that the noodles are boiling, make the goat cheese sauce.
Add the heavy cream and goat cheese to the onion and radicchio mixture over medium low heat, stir contstantly until it just comes to a simmer. Once the goat cheese is completely melted and fully incorporated into the sauce, remove from heat and set aside.
Do NOT heat the cream over high heat. This will cause the mixture to curdle. Goat cheese can be fickle.
Reserve one cup of the pasta water, then drain the noodles. Add them back into the pot along with the goat cheese mixture, add the pasta water, and stir to combine.
Add about ⅔ of the fontina cheese and stir until it's all melted and gooey.
Transfer the pasta to an oven proof skillet or casserole, top with remaining fontina and the grated parmigiano. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the cheese is browning on top and the sauce is bubbly.
I baked this in my Lodge enameled cast iron casserole pan. I find it works really well for baked pasta dishes like this one because it heats evenly and doesn't stick.
Disclosure: I am a part of the Lodge Cast Iron Blogging Partners Program. This enamel casserole was provided to me free of charge by Lodge Cast Iron. All opinions are my own.
Tips
- If you want really full-on bitter, you can skip soaking the radicchio. I really love bitter flavors, but when I was testing this recipe I felt that the bitterness was overwhelming if I skipped the soak.
- The only thing that takes any time at all is caramelizing the onions. Listen, some things are worth waiting for, and some of those things are caramelized onions.(Do not believe those people who tell you it happens in 5 - 8 minutes. It just doesn't.) It takes 25 minutes, folks. No short cuts. You can do it. It's worth it.
- I prefer freshly grated cheese because it melts better in recipes like this, but you can use pre-grated.
FAQ
No. They are very different in flavor and in how you cook them. Radicchio is in the chicory family, has a little bitterness, and wilts quickly when heated. Red cabbage is sweet, has a lot more water in it, and takes much longer to cook. You'd have pretty raw cabbage if you swapped them in this recipe. You'd also turn the entire thing pink, because as the cabbage cooks, it will release water and color the rest of the dish. And that would be pretty weird.
I don't recommend baking this to store as a freezer meal because the texture of the creamy goat cheese sauce will change significantly, and pretty much disappear. That is typical for many cream sauces once they hit the freezer. The leftovers of this pasta freeze fine, as long as you're willing to put up with the change in texture to the cream sauce. Just heat it in the microwave for a few minutes. You'll still have cheesiness from the fontina and richness, just no real sauce to speak of.
Related Recipes
- Creamy Pasta with Bacon and Cheese More creamy, cheesy pasta! Can there ever be enough?
- Red Wine Spaghetti gives you permission to put a whole bottle of red wine in your dinner.
- Linguine with Green Olives, Capers, and Fresh Herbs is bursting with flavor, and you don't even have to cook the sauce!
- Penne all'Arrabbiata is simple and spicy. An Italian classic!
Recipe
Baked Pasta with Goat Cheese, Radicchio, and Caramelized Red Onion
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound cavatappi pasta or penne, elbows, or rigatoni
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 medium-sized red onions
- 1 small head radicchio
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 cup reserved pasta water
- 8 oz fontina cheese
- 6 oz goat cheese
- 2 oz parmesan cheese
- 1 /12 cups heavy cream
- kosher salt and cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Set the goat cheese out on the counter to allow it to start softening as you cook the other ingredients.
- Slice the radicchio into thin ribbons and soak in a bowl of water. This removes some of the bitterness. Slice the onion into thin half-moons. Slice the garlic thinly.
- Add the olive oil to the pan, and sauté onions over medium heat until caramelized and beginning to brown, about 25 minutes. If some of the onions are cooking faster than others and getting too dark, you can add a splash of water to the pan from time to time. This will also soften the onions and help them to caramelize.
- Once the onions have been cooking for about 15 minutes, Get a large pot of water started boiling for your pasta. Add enough salt so it "tastes like the sea".
- While the onions are cooking, use a box grater to grate the fontina and parmesan cheese. I prefer freshly grated cheese, but you can use pre-grated.
- When the onions have caramelized, add the garlic to the pan and sauté until fragrant and just beginning to become translucent, 1 - 2 minutes. Drain the radicchio, then add it to the pan and cook for 3 - 4 minutes until wilted. Add the balsamic vinegar and a pinch of salt and stir to throughly combine.
- The pasta water should be boiling by now. Add the noodles and cook until very al dente, 6 - 8 minutes.
- While the noodles boil, make the goat cheese sauce. Add the heavy cream and goat cheese to the onion and radicchio mixture over medium low heat, stir contstantly until it just comes to a simmer. Once the goat cheese is completely melted and fully incorporated into the sauce, remove from heat and set aside. Do NOT heat the cream over high heat. This will cause the mixture to curdle. Goat cheese can be fickle.
- Reserve one cup of the pasta water, then drain the noodles. Put the drained pasta back into the pot along with the goat cheese mixture, add the pasta water, and stir to combine. Add about ⅔ of the fontina cheese and continue to stir until it's fully incorporated and all melted and gooey.
- Transfer the pasta to a buttered oven proof skillet or casserole, top with remaining fontina and the grated parmigiano. Bake for 25-30 minutes until the cheese is browning on top and the sauce is bubbly. Allow to stand for 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
- The only thing that takes any time at all when making this recipe is caramelizing the onions. And it takes 25 minutes, folks. Listen, some things are worth waiting for, and some of those things are caramelized onions. Do not believe those people who tell you it happens in 5 - 8 minutes. It just doesn't.
- Soaking the radicchio reduces some of its bitterness. If you want really full-on bitter, you can skip this step. I really love bitter flavors, but when I was testing this recipe I felt that the bitterness was overwhelming if I skipped the soak. It doesn't save you any time to skip it so you might as well soak it.
- I prefer freshly grated cheese because it isn't treated with anti-caking agents and tends to melt better. I use a box grater and it only takes a couple of minutes. Whatever you do, please make sure that you use the real parmigiano reggiano cheese! It makes so much difference in the flavor.
- I baked this in my 12" round Lodge enameled cast iron casserole pan. It's nice and big, provides even heat, and it's easy to clean.
Heather
Hate to be the person who says " didn't have that main ingredient but made it anyway with something else" but that's where we are. Combo of fontina, goat cheese, parm and cream far more flavorful than you're average alfredo. Didn't have radicchio, did it with crispy seared sausage and zucchini. I could see fresh peas working in this as well. Just want people to know this cheese combo ratio works. Will try the radicchio as soon as I can find some.
Debra
Hi Heather!
I love that you are that person who says that! "Make the recipe your own with what you've got" is one of my fave things to do. These ingredients sound delicious! I appreciate you sharing your variations and how it worked out for you.
Thanks so much for reading,
Debra
Sarah
Hi Debra! This sounds really good and I want to make it - where do you buy radiccios?
Debra
Hi Sarah!
I get radicchio in the produce section at Whole Foods, it's alongside the other lettuces and cabbages. Other large grocery stores may carry it as well.
Please let me know how it turns out for you!
Thanks for reading,
Debra