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Question ID: 2000-8614-0-1-2-4

Recipe Description

You'll need: One 9 1/2- to 10-inch deep dish pie plate, sprayed with non-stick spray For the Alfredo pie: 1/4 cup unsalted butter 1/4 cup all purpose flour 2 cups whole milk 1 cup heavy cream Pinch ground nutmeg 2 cups Italian Five Cheese blend shredded cheese (I used Kraft Italian), divided 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided   Salt and pepper, to taste 12 oz. spaghetti For the marinara: 2 (28 ounce) cans whole tomatoes, packed in juice 2 tablespoons olive oil 1 medium onion, chopped fine (about 1 cup) 2 medium cloves garlic, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 2 teaspoons) 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano (since I forgot the basil, I used 1 teaspoon pasta seasoning mix instead of just oregano) 1/3 cup dry red wine (I used Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot would also work) 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (I unfortunately forgot to buy this)  1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil Salt and ground black pepper 1 - 2 teaspoons sugar, as needed 

Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (I also preheat a baking sheet on the rack, as I bake all my pies on baking sheets to contain any spills.)  Remove 1/2 cup shredded Italian five cheese from the bag, and add to a small bowl mixing it with 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan, set aside for topping the partially baked pie. You'll use the remaining 1 1/2 cups plus 1/2 cup Parmesan for the Alfredo sauce.  Combine heavy cream and milk in one measuring cup. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat until foaming, whisk in flour until combined, continue whisking until mixture is smooth and slightly golden, about 1 minute. Gradually add milk and heavy cream, increase heat to medium-high and whisk constantly to combine into a smooth sauce. Bring mixture just to a boil, turn heat to medium-low and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add a pinch of nutmeg during this time.  Once sauce is thickened, start adding the cheese, a handful at a time, stirring after each addition waiting until the cheese is melted before adding more. Continue adding, and stirring, until the 2 cups of cheese is melted and the sauce is smooth. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed, you may only need some pepper since the cheese is somewhat salty.  Turn heat off but leave pan on burner, cover, and keep warm until ready to toss with spaghetti. 

Cook pasta and begin baking pie while marinara cooks. Note: I actually halved this recipe, that was a mistake because it tasted so good with the pie, and garlic bread, we wished there was more.  Pour tomatoes and juice into strainer set over large bowl. Open tomatoes with hands and remove and discard fibrous cores; let tomatoes drain excess liquid, about 5 minutes. Remove 3/4 cup tomatoes from strainer and set aside. Reserve 2 1/2 cups tomato juice and discard remainder. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and golden around edges, 6 to 8 minutes. Add garlic and oregano and cook, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes from strainer and increase heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring every minute, until liquid has evaporated and tomatoes begin to stick to bottom of pan and brown fond forms around pan edges, 10 to 12 minutes. Add wine and cook until thick and syrupy, about 1 minute. Add reserved tomato juice and bring to simmer; reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally and loosening browned bits, until sauce is thick, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer sauce to food processor (or transfer to saucepan and insert immersion blender; and add reserved tomatoes; process until slightly chunky, about eight 2-second pulses (you can make it as thick or as smooth as you like). Return sauce to skillet and add basil and extra-virgin olive oil and salt, pepper, and sugar (I added 1 tsp.) to taste.

As you start making the marinara, bring a large pot of water to boil over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon salt then spaghetti, stirring occasionally to separate the strands. Cook until al dente (even slightly firmer than al dente since it will soften more as it bakes). I reserved 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water just in case I needed to thin the alfredo sauce (in the end I didn't, but save the water just in case). Drain the pasta and return to the pot. Stir the Alfredo sauce again to make sure it's smooth, then add all but 1 cup to the spaghetti and toss to combine. Return the cover to the Alfredo and keep it warm (my oven has a warming burner, if you don't, warm it gently over low heat before topping the partially baked pie with it.) If you feel the sauce is too thick and not coating all of the pasta easily you can add some of the pasta cooking water, a little at a time, until the sauce is thoroughly mixed with the pasta. Transfer the spaghetti to the pie dish and pat down the top to make an even layer. Bake for 20 minutes. 

After 20 minutes, remove the pie from the oven. Re-stir the Alfredo sauce so it's once again smooth, top the pie with the remaining Alfredo using a spatula to spread over the entire pie.  Sprinkle the remaining 3/4 cup cheese on top of the Alfredo sauce, return to oven for 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted and light golden brown. Rotate your baking sheet front to back halfway through baking. Remove from oven and let pie rest 10 minutes. Spread a layer of marinara sauce on each serving plate, or shallow bowl, cut pie into pieces and serve on top of marinara. (If I had some fresh basil I would've loved to sprinkle some finely chopped over the top of each dish.) Serve, garlic bread on the side is wonderful for scooping up excess sauce, enjoy!  Leftovers can be stored, covered, keeping the marinara separate, for 3 days. The pie itself reheats well in a toaster oven. I microwaved the marinara sauce while warming the pie. (I'm not sure if reheating the entire dish in the microwave would work well, the pasta might get too dry, but you could try it if you have leftovers and no toaster oven.)



Question & Answer

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