In this video, Nicole shows you how to make three of the top-rated pasta bakes which are sure to satisfy your cravings and make mealtime a breeze! From the creamy, cheesy White Cheese Chicken Lasagna to the rich, indulgent Million Dollar Spaghetti, and the flavorful, garlicky Garlic Shrimp Pasta Bake, these recipes are easy to make and perfect for busy nights.
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00:00I've got three pasta bakes that you're gonna love.
00:02These are all easy, new flavor combinations,
00:05something different than the old bakes eating.
00:08I'm starting with white chicken cheesy lasagna.
00:11Essentially, we're starting by making our own cream of.
00:14Okay, I'm just gonna melt some butter.
00:17The onion's gonna soften
00:18and the garlic's gonna flavor that butter.
00:21You're just gonna cook that until the onion is soft
00:24and slightly brown.
00:26My friend is always looking for these type of recipes
00:28because they do team dinners for her son's football team.
00:32This is the perfect thing for that
00:34because it's gonna be super hearty
00:36but not a ton of money, you know?
00:38Now I'm going to add in some flour and make a roux
00:42and then we'll cook that until that's lightly browned.
00:45So with a roux, it's equal parts fat and flour,
00:48so about a half a cup of flour.
00:51And this is really cream of whatever you want it to be.
00:54You can put mushrooms in here at this point.
00:56It's called cream of mushroom, chicken broth,
00:58and it's called cream of chicken.
01:01You get the point.
01:01Also, my water is boiling.
01:03I'm gonna go ahead and put in my lasagna noodles.
01:05Add in the pasta.
01:07Whenever you are making a baked lasagna
01:10or really any kind of pasta, it's gonna bake again, you know?
01:14So you never wanna cook your pasta till it's fully done.
01:17Then you're gonna end up with mush when it goes to bake.
01:20So I always underdo my pasta.
01:23Then for our liquid, extra flavor,
01:25I'm gonna use chicken broth and milk instead of water.
01:29I'm gonna go ahead and mix my milk in with my chicken broth.
01:32That way, it won't break when you add it to a hot sauce.
01:35Okay, and then we're just gonna whisk it into our onion butter.
01:40Add in my pasta.
01:44Cheaper than Botox.
01:45So I'm gonna add in some dried basil and dried oregano.
01:48I add in a little less than the recipe calls for
01:51because it's just what I do.
01:53It's gotten all thick and creamy.
01:56Season it with some salt and pepper.
01:58Going to take some of our cheese and stir it in.
02:02Some mozzarella and some Parmesan.
02:05And then just turn off the heat.
02:08Look at that.
02:10We don't need no sauce from a can.
02:13Let me taste it.
02:17Mm, delicious.
02:19All right, get your casserole dish.
02:21Give it a little olive oil spray.
02:24And you're gonna put a little bit of sauce
02:25down on the bottom.
02:27Noodles down on the bottom.
02:29And then a little bit of ricotta cheese.
02:33And now chicken.
02:35So you can use whatever leftover cooked chicken you have.
02:38I always meal prep a bunch of chicken
02:40and then use that cooked chicken
02:42in several recipes throughout the week.
02:43You could just buy a rotisserie chicken
02:45and then just scatter that over the ricotta
02:49and then more pasta over that.
02:51And then about a third of the sauce.
02:54And this layer I'm gonna add some frozen chopped spinach.
02:58Make sure it's really well drained.
03:00And then more mozzarella.
03:04I'm also gonna add a little parm here too.
03:07Okay, and then one more layer of noodles, sauce, and cheese.
03:11Recipe says to put all this cheese in the middle
03:13but I just want some on top.
03:14If you wanted to make this ahead, this is where you stop.
03:17It's layered, you can cover it,
03:19and then you can put this in your freezer
03:21for like a few months, you know?
03:23And then it's just ready on those busy nights
03:25and you're like, future me is very thankful
03:28we did stuff like this.
03:29But you know, I'm not gonna make you wait.
03:31I'm gonna go ahead and bake it.
03:32This just goes in at 350 for about 35 to 45 minutes.
03:35If you're bringing this out after you've had it
03:37in the fridge or the freezer,
03:38it's gonna like double the cooking time.
03:40And in which case, I would cover it for the first part.
03:43It's like a pasta bake.
03:46The waiting is the hardest part.
03:48White chicken cheesy lasagna.
03:51Just like any lasagna I've ever made,
03:53you have to let this sit for about 10 to 15 minutes
03:56so that it doesn't just ooze out on your plate
03:59when you go to cut it.
04:01Yum.
04:03You've got that crispy cheese pasta on the outside.
04:07All that goodness inside.
04:09Mm.
04:12Mm.
04:15Whoever is the recipient of this pasta bake
04:18is a lucky person.
04:19Next up, would you believe me if I told you
04:21I've never made million dollar spaghetti?
04:24So I'm going to chop up a little bit of onion and garlic
04:27and then I'm gonna cook that down
04:29with my ground beef and Italian sausage.
04:32I'm using Italian sausage
04:33because that's just like built-in flavor.
04:36Into a skillet, a little bit of olive oil.
04:39I'm gonna get my onion soft.
04:42Okay, and then I'll just add in a little salt
04:43to help that along.
04:46In with the Italian sausage.
04:50And once everything has come together,
04:54in goes some sauce.
04:57That can just simmer while I boil my spaghetti.
05:00Salt that water like the ocean.
05:02Drop the spaghetti.
05:05Lord, don't break it.
05:07Okay, again, you don't wanna overcook it,
05:08so I'm gonna cook this just about seven to eight minutes.
05:12The cheesy layer is what makes this common
05:14among all the million dollar spaghetti recipes
05:16and cream cheese is the base for that,
05:19so you know this is not a true Italian spaghetti,
05:22so don't even be coming at me
05:24trying to take my Italian card away from me.
05:27Okay, so in goes cream cheese.
05:30Make sure it's softened
05:31so that everything mixes well together
05:33with a little bit of cottage cheese.
05:35Now, I love the cottage cheese addition
05:37because my dad used to put that in our lasagna.
05:39All of the tanginess from this is really gonna cut in
05:42to some of that richness from the meat and cheese.
05:44This is where you could also put in other flavors
05:46like fresh herbs, parsley, basil, oregano,
05:50anything like that.
05:51Cheese layer's done, I'm gonna drain the pasta.
05:53The sauce layer's done, and then we bring it all together.
05:55Once your spaghetti is drained,
05:57you need to toss it with butter.
06:00I'm gonna toss half the butter with the pasta.
06:03I'm also gonna add more sauce to this layer.
06:07In with half of our pasta,
06:10and then on top of spaghetti.
06:15That is a classic.
06:17It might not be Italian.
06:19That's gonna be good.
06:20Then the rest of your spaghetti.
06:23I'll put a little bit more butter.
06:25And then our saucy meat mixture.
06:30Listen, you bring this to your friends
06:32that moved into a new house or had a baby,
06:35you're really setting the bar.
06:37And for our final trick, mochis.
06:40Don't call it million dollar,
06:42and it's not gonna be worth a million dollars, you know?
06:44Plus, you better be feeding an army.
06:46And just like the other one,
06:48this is the point in which you freeze it
06:49if you're making it ahead.
06:50Of course, we're going straight to the oven.
06:52You're looking at at least 40 minutes or so,
06:55I mean, because everything is still kind of warm.
06:57But if it wasn't, you would be looking at at least an hour.
07:00This really might be worth a million dollars.
07:03Oh, yeah.
07:03Okay, my first bite ever of million dollar spaghetti.
07:12The tomatoes cut through that creaminess,
07:14so it all kind of blends together perfectly.
07:16It definitely gives you
07:17a whole different spaghetti experience.
07:20And this is really a way to stretch your ingredients.
07:22Normally, a pound of spaghetti feeds like, you know,
07:25six people when we're having like a spaghetti dinner,
07:27like a hearty six people.
07:29This, I mean, you're looking at
07:3010 to 12 servings from one pound of spaghetti.
07:33Regardless, million dollar spaghetti is the recipe you need
07:36when you're looking for something different
07:38other than a good old Bayseed.
07:41For my final trick, I'm giving you something special.
07:44Because I think when you think pasta bake,
07:46you think of similar things to what I've already shown you
07:48with chicken or beef.
07:50We are doing garlic shrimp pasta bake.
07:53This is when you want something different for dinner.
07:55It's a little bit lighter.
07:57But also this one,
07:58Even though it's a pasta bake,
08:00this one does not require as much time.
08:02So it's like a fast and easy dinner.
08:05Let me show you.
08:06Okay, I've got some boiling water.
08:08I'm gonna go ahead and cook my pasta.
08:11You can do any kind of pasta here.
08:12I am doing a cavatoppi.
08:15You could do like a rotini or a penne.
08:18I think something on the shorter, like, rigid side
08:22will work better for me.
08:23I'm gonna go ahead and put this in the oven.
08:25I think something on the shorter, like, rigid side
08:28will work.
08:29You want it to sop up all that good flavor.
08:31Okay, and then while that's going,
08:32we're going to make our sauce.
08:34Everything's gonna come together.
08:37Everything's gonna come together in this pan.
08:38And we're also gonna bake this pasta in the pan.
08:41So get an ovenproof skillet.
08:43And we're gonna melt some butter.
08:44And once that's melted, I'm gonna go in with the garlic.
08:47The garlic is going to infuse that butter.
08:49So we're making a little bit of garlic shrimp,
08:51just as it's titled.
08:54I want this to be really hot,
08:55because I'm only gonna cook them for about a minute.
08:58All right, once it is pink on one side,
09:00I'm just gonna flip it and then take it out.
09:02Don't want the shrimp to overcook at this point, for sure,
09:05because it's going in the oven,
09:07just until the color sets.
09:10One more for the road.
09:13In with more butter.
09:15Okay, to the butter, equal parts flour.
09:19In with some chicken stock and milk, like we did before.
09:23Toasted garlic in there.
09:25All right, we're gonna add some fresh herbs in,
09:27so a little fresh parsley and dill.
09:31Tomatoes are also gonna add in more liquid.
09:33And it really gives this dish some freshness.
09:36All right, season with a little bit of salt and pepper.
09:39I'm gonna bring this to a simmer and cook it
09:40until those tomatoes start to soften
09:42and release their juices, and therefore their sweetness.
09:45Going to add in my lemon juice, parsley, and the dill.
09:50And then I'm going in with just a little bit
09:52of mozzarella cheese and some Parmesan cheese.
09:56It's gonna really amp up that creamy sauce.
10:00And then in goes our shrimp with the juices and the pasta.
10:07I'm gonna turn the heat off now, get it all coated,
10:10and then I'm gonna top it
10:11with a little more cheese and parsley.
10:12This goes into the oven, really,
10:14just until the cheese melts,
10:16because those shrimp are just about cooked,
10:18especially mixing in with that hot sauce and pasta.
10:23So that one gives you just enough time
10:26to pour a glass of wine.
10:28Guess I have to drink the whole bottle.
10:33Now I'm ready.
10:34My favorite one ends up being the one
10:36that surprises me the most, and I think this is that.
10:39I wish y'all could smell it here.
10:41I'm so glad there's extra juice at the bottom.
10:43You're definitely gonna want some crusty bread
10:45to go with this.
10:49And a shrimp.
10:50Oh my God.
10:53Mm.
10:58I mean, this makes me feel like it was a fancy dinner,
11:01like a high-dollar restaurant-style dinner
11:04that you made in like half an hour,
11:07and it's a pasta bake.
11:09I think we hit it out of the park with these.
11:10So next time, when you pull out that 9x13
11:13to feed your friends or your family,
11:15give one of these recipes a try, please.
11:18Cheers.
11:20A plus.
11:22A plus.