# Baked Penne With Mushrooms And Cheeses



## mish (Oct 1, 2005)

I was so happy to have come across this recipe, as it sounds exactly like a dish I often ordered at a favorite Italian restaurant. I had the dish with the house salad, white wine, crusty Italian bread and butter. It was _almost_ too filling to have a slice of cheescake & coffee. The menu gives you a choice of any pasta (ziti, linguine, etc.) and any sauce (white, mushroom, tomato etc.) you wish. Real comfort food. I would like to give it a try, but have a question re the *cheese.

BAKED PENNE WITH MUSHROOMS AND CHEESES
Pasticcio di penne alla valdostana Valle d'Aosta
Serves 4 - 5

1 lb mushrooms, cleaned and thinly sliced 
1 garlic clove, peeled, whole 
4 T butter 
salt and freshly ground black pepper 
10 oz penne (about 2 1/2 cups dry pasta) - or mostaccioi, ziti, etc.
*3 oz Bel Paese cheese, thinly sliced or cubed - or any creamy, mild cheese 
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 
3/4 cup heavy cream or half and half 

Sauté the mushrooms with the whole garlic clove in 2 tablespoons of the butter over a high heat. Add salt and pepper, lower the heat and cook for 3 minutes. Discard the garlic.

Cook the pasta as usual. Drain and dress with the remaining butter.

Butter an ovenproof dish and cover the bottom with a layer of penne. Distribute about a quarter of the mushrooms and the sliced cheese evenly over the pasta and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of Parmesan.

Add another layer of pasta and cover with mushrooms and cheese as before. Repeat until you have used all the ingredients, finishing with a layer of sliced cheeses.

Pour over the cream, sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake, covered with foil, in a preheated oven at 400° for 10 minutes. Bake uncovered for a further 10 minutes, or until a light crust has formed on the top. Remove from oven and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Adapted from: Gastronomy of Italy
Anna Del Conte

*I am not familiar with the taste of this cheese. If any one is familiar with this cheese, any thoughts on what I could use instead? (Cream cheese or Mozzarella, maybe?) Think I also detected a hint of olive oil in the dish. The taste is very subtle, so I don't want to overpower any of the ingredients.


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## Constance (Oct 1, 2005)

Copied and pasted...this family loves pasta, and this dish sounds yummy!


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## mish (Oct 1, 2005)

Constance said:
			
		

> Copied and pasted...this family loves pasta, and this dish sounds yummy!


 
Constance, if I can get the cheese right, it's heaven.  Whatever ya do, don't add extra garlic, or kill it with too much cheese, etc. - it is excellent without any embellishments. I might try half butter and half olive oil.


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## corazon (Oct 1, 2005)

That looks great!  I wonder about the cheese too...


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## SierraCook (Oct 1, 2005)

Mish, your recipe sound great. I looked up the cheese on the internet and here is what I found.

Bel Paese is from the Lombardy region of Italy. It is a modern, creamery, semi soft cheese and has a light, milky aroma. It is matured for 6-8 weeks. The genuine Italian article can be identified by its wrapping which features an image of a priest and the map of Italy (U.S. licensed versions show a map of the Americas). The name means "beautiful land" and was inspired by the title of a book by Stoppani. Bel Paese is very similar to French St. Paulin. It can also be used instead of mozzarella.

http://www.cheese.com/Description.asp?Name=Bel%20Paese


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## mish (Oct 1, 2005)

SierraCook said:
			
		

> Mish, your recipe sound great. I looked up the cheese on the internet and here is what I found.
> 
> Bel Paese is from the Lombardy region of Italy. It is a modern, creamery, semi soft cheese and has a light, milky aroma. It is matured for 6-8 weeks. The genuine Italian article can be identified by its wrapping which features an image of a priest and the map of Italy (U.S. licensed versions show a map of the Americas). The name means "beautiful land" and was inspired by the title of a book by Stoppani. Bel Paese is very similar to French St. Paulin. It can also be used instead of mozzarella.
> 
> http://www.cheese.com/Description.asp?Name=Bel%20Paese


 
Thank you Sierra. I took a peek too. Love reading about how foods get their name & the origin/history. Hard to resist a food named "beautiful land." Mozzarella sounds like a good way to go to me as well. Would like to see if I can find it at an Italian market, just for the experience of trying a new cheese. If you try it, hope you will enjoy the dish. Always appreciate your input.


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## kadesma (Oct 1, 2005)

Mish,

 the kids were asking for a pasta with a white sauce and I'd considered an alfredo, but, your recipe looks so good...I've eaten Bel Passe cold and I'll try it tomorrow in the pasta and see..I'd be willing to bet right now it will be yummy...Thanks so much this will really make Cade smile as he has developed a great fondness for pasta with white sauce 
kadesma


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## mish (Oct 1, 2005)

Here's a look at their menu.

http://www.vitellosrestaurant.com/page/page/1980205.htm


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## Shunka (Oct 1, 2005)

What a great menu!!!! My mouth is watering, badly!!! I am going to try the recipe you posted using mozzarella soon.


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## mrsmac (Oct 1, 2005)

This looks great, I will investigate the cheese and if I can't get it here I'll use mozarella (Erin strikes again)


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## mish (Oct 1, 2005)

Thanks Shunka and Mrs. M. It's been a while since I've eaten there. Looks like lots of new dishes were added. Trying to remember the ones I tried:

Pizza
Calzone
Linguine and fresh clams
carbonara
Raviloli
(pasta in mushroom sauce - & a few other pasta dishes) 
veal? - can't remember
I'll probably think of a few more.

Hope it turns out the same. The ingredients sound very close to the taste of the dish I had. Maybe I can go back and bribe the chef for the recipe. 

Kadesma, hope you and the little ones like it too.


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## kadesma (Oct 2, 2005)

*Fantastic!!! *

Today I made the recipe that Mish posted for the Penne with cheese,mushrooms,cream...It was fantastic...My whole family ate like there was no tomorrow...Mish, Thank you, this is a recipe that I'll use very often...Little Cade ate 2 large helpings of the pasta and took some to have for his dinner tomorrow as well.. Ethan, ate his share as well.We had a pork loin that I browned, then finished off in the oven with quartered granny smith apples, apple cider, brown sugar cinnamon,just a little and a pinch of cloves..then dotted with butter at the end..Green salad and dinner rolls, for dessert vanilla ice cream and apple cobbler and blackberry cobbler...Both my sons in law groaned they ate so much pasta...I doubled the recipe as my kids always want the next day's lunch from me...so there was a little left and they divided it up and went home smiling...
Again, A big THANK YOU Mish.. the recipe was the best.
kadesma


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## texasgirl (Oct 3, 2005)

Cool, I'm glad that you posted the results!!
Now, I will just have to take out the mushrooms


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## urmaniac13 (Oct 3, 2005)

Mish here is another information on Bel Paese... this site has lots of nice reads about Italian cuisine, I hope you enjoy.

http://www.italiancookingandliving.com/food/essentials/belpaese.html

I had bel paese, it has a really pleasant creamy, mild flavour and texture.  But I don't remember seeing it in markets outside Italy, thus if you can't find it, I would substitute with mild provolone (not the smoked version) and then add a little robiola or stracchino or similar kind of fresh creamy cheeses.  They should be equally tasty!!  Anyway your recipe sounds delicious, we will try it ourselves when we get a chance!!


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## mish (Oct 3, 2005)

kads...what a terrific meal!  The pork loin sounds like heaven.  Will you show us your recipe   (I'm making my next reservation at "Kadesma's Place.")  You are very welcome.  The author deserves the kudos.  I knew when I read the ingredients, it looked very similar to the dish I enjoyed.  Thank you for posting the results.


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## mish (Oct 3, 2005)

urmaniac13 said:
			
		

> Mish here is another information on Bel Paese... this site has lots of nice reads about Italian cuisine, I hope you enjoy.
> 
> http://www.italiancookingandliving.com/food/essentials/belpaese.html
> 
> I had bel paese, it has a really pleasant creamy, mild flavour and texture. But I don't remember seeing it in markets outside Italy, thus if you can't find it, I would substitute with mild provolone (not the smoked version) and then add a little robiola or stracchino or similar kind of fresh creamy cheeses. They should be equally tasty!! Anyway your recipe sounds delicious, we will try it ourselves when we get a chance!!


 
Thank you for the link urmaniac. Looking forward to taking a "tour" of the site. Your description is very helpful. Provolone sounds like a close/good choice - or perhaps mozzarella. I'll see if I can find the Bel Paese. It will be a new "cheese" experience. Here in So. California, I'm lucky, in that I can find just about anything. Knowing me, I'll buy all three and have a cheese fest.  Hope you like the dish.


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## mish (Oct 3, 2005)

texasgirl said:
			
		

> Cool, I'm glad that you posted the results!!
> Now, I will just have to take out the mushrooms


 
  Texas, you sound like one of the mushroom-picker-outers. Thanks for the giggles.


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## corazon (Oct 3, 2005)

I just printed out your recipe and put it in the car, so the next time I'm in town wondering what I'll make for dinner, I will have the recipe on hand!  Thanks!  I look forward to trying it out!  Kadesma, what kind of cheese did you use?


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## kadesma (Oct 3, 2005)

mish said:
			
		

> kads...what a terrific meal! The pork loin sounds like heaven. Will you show us your recipe  (I'm making my next reservation at "Kadesma's Place.") You are very welcome. The author deserves the kudos. I knew when I read the ingredients, it looked very similar to the dish I enjoyed. Thank you for posting the results.


Mish, I really don't have a recipe for the pork, I just browned the meat in the same skillet I used for the mushrooms for the pasta, then put the meat into a roasting pan, I sprinkled maybe a cup of brown sugar of the 4 pork tenderloins, sprinkled on some cinnamon, not much just maybe a teaspoon or two and pinch of cloves...I then just pour on apple cider from the jug about 1-1/2 cups, I turned the meat several times during cooking, and at the end I dotted it with butter, I then sliced the meat and put it back into the pan to pick up juices on the cut surface and that was it...salt and peppered at the end...
Now on eht pasta, i used Fontel cheese, a soft sheese and very good...They were out of bel passe, I made a seperate tin of pasta for Cade and Ethan without mushrooms and used mainly mozerella with the parm..I have to tell you the kids loved it, but I find the mozerella to mild not enough flavor so go with the fontel or the ones licia told you. This is really a wonderful recipe and I know we will have it often...Many thnks for sharing with us.
kadesma


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## kadesma (Oct 3, 2005)

corazon90 said:
			
		

> I just printed out your recipe and put it in the car, so the next time I'm in town wondering what I'll make for dinner, I will have the recipe on hand! Thanks! I look forward to trying it out! Kadesma, what kind of cheese did you use?


Cora,
I used fontel cheese, it's soft and when melted with the cream tastes wonderful...The market I shop was out of Bel Passe  so they suggested this instead, I did however make a seperate tin of pasta for Cade and Ethan leaving out the mushrooms and used a mix of the fontel and mozerella and parm..but it was not as tasty as ours..I don't think I'd use just mozerella and the parm alone the dish would be bland, I love moz on pizza and different things but for this recipe the pasta is thick and needs that zip you get from the other cheese. I hope you try this recipe, it is a keeper and one we really enjoyed very much.
kadesma


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## mish (Oct 3, 2005)

Thank you kadesma. I really appreciate your sharing the tips and the pork instructions.  Your dinner sounds wonderful.  I'll paste your notes into my recipe.  I'm sooo hungry.


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## corazon (Oct 3, 2005)

*Bel Paese*

*Description:*
Bel Paese is from the Lombardy region of Italy. It is a modern, creamery, semi soft cheese and has a light, milky aroma. It is matured for 6-8 weeks. The genuine Italian article can be identified by its wrapping which features an image of a priest and the map of Italy (U.S. licensed versions show a map of the Americas). The name means "beautiful land" and was inspired by the title of a book by Stoppani. Bel Paese is very similar to French St. Paulin. It can also be used instead of mozzarella.

_I found this at www.cheese.com _
_I think when I try this recipe out, I'll maybe use provolone or something like that._


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