Recipe - Build-Your-Own Baked Pasta

General Conference Weekend. . . a favorite time of year for most of us.  What's not to love about eight guilt-free hours in your favorite chair, being inspired and uplifted without getting dressed for church?  I'd say this is cause for celebration, and believe it or not, folks can get pretty hungry while physically immobile.  I guess it's all the mental exertion involved in vowing to serve our neighbor, seek out our dead, and break bad habits.  We need a little sustenance to gird up our loins for all that self-betterment, don't you agree?  Seriously, it is a wonderful time for families to get together for a special meal, something unhurried which lends itself to conversation, catching up, and just enjoying each other's company.  My tried and tested plan for Build-Your-Own Pasta is just the ticket for a festive between-sessions meal.  All the prep work can be done ahead, so that when the final choir number has been sung, the party can start.  Fire up your oven, set out bowls of toppings, and let the fun begin.  Everyone customizes his/her own dish with choice of pasta, sauces, meats, veggies, and cheeses, complete with a tin-foil name flag on a toothpick to stick in the top so they won't get mixed up while baking. 

You can either let each guest layer the ingredients in a personal sized oven-proof dish (or disposable tin pan), or fill out an order sheet (see example below) for you and your kitchen helpers to fill. Either way, everyone will enjoy planning a delicious, personal baked pasta creation. (As you can see, I have different sizes for both large and smaller appetites.)

This guy looked pretty happy a few years back when someone, I'm not sure who, let him order up two separate bowls.  He knows his mom's a big pushover.

. . . and these fellas should have promised to clean up the room behind them before I let them dig in.  Dad is saying, "I think I've died and gone to heaven," and John is saying, "This is just too beautiful to eat!" 

I'm sure your loved ones will be just as excited as mine.  To help with planning your own Baked Pasta Party, see further instructions below.  And have a wonderful weekend!

Baked Pasta Party

Depending on how much room you have in your kitchen (and whether you're OK with things getting messy), you can either let people layer their own ingredients or, as I chose to do, let them fill out an order form.  This can easily be adapted to your family's tastes and how many choices of ingredients you want to offer.  It can be as basic or as varied as you desire to make it.  If you are having a large group, it may be more worth it to expand the variety of offerings to chose from, whereas for a small group, the choices may need to be more limited.  

These are some of my prepped ingredients, right next to the stove, ready to fill the orders.  If I were having people assemble their own, I probably wouldn't use mismatched bowls and pans like this, but opt for a more attractive presentation of the ingredients out on a table.  

Please note that you will probably want to cook your pastas ahead of time, tossing in a bit of oil after draining and rinsing so they don't clump together in the fridge.  Jarred sauces do not have to be warmed first, and the precooked meats and veggies can be brought straight from the fridge and added to the pasta cold as well. 

Items that don't require much cooking, such as sliced mushrooms and fresh spinach should be added raw.  Vegetables such as broccoli and asparagus should be lightly steamed ahead of time so they will finish in the oven.  Raw meats, of course, need to be pre-cooked. Everything can be prepared ahead of time.

Build Your Own Baked Pasta Order Form

Please CIRCLE the items you would like in your individual Pasta Dish.  Choose as few or as many ingredients as you want. 

Name:

PASTA 

Angel Hair

Penne

Farfalle

Shells

Linguini

SAUCES – (Note: You can make your own homemade sauces, but for this purpose, I am happy using one of the good quality name-brand sauces available, such as Classico or Barilla.)

Alfredo

Marinara

Clam (add canned clams to Alfredo sauce along with some sautéed garlic and Parmesan)

Creamy Pesto (add some prepared pesto to Alfredo sauce)

MEATS

Seasoned Cooked Chicken Pieces

Diced or Ground Ham (To make ground ham, use your food processor or a meat grinder)

Shrimp

Crab (You can use imitation or real)

Cooked Ground Beef or Sausage

  

VEGGIES

Broccoli florets 

Asparagus pieces 

Roasted Red Peppers (Roast your own or buy a jar)

Sauteed Onions

Sauteed Green Peppers

Fresh Spinach

Artichoke Hearts (I would suggest using canned)

CHEESES

Parmesan

Cheddar

Swiss

Mozzarella

Blue Cheese Crumbles

TOPPINGS

Crispy Bacon Pieces

Green Onions

Mushrooms

Green and/or Black Olives

Diced Fresh or Sun-dried Tomatoes 

Once the pastas are assembled, place several dishes at a time on cookie sheets and bake in a 375 degree oven just until bubbly and browned on top--probably about 20 to 30 minutes for each batch.  Some can be baking while others are being assembled.  Remember all the ingredients are already cooked, so just watch them and take them out when they look good.  The dishes will be hot, so serve with hot pads under them and warn people to be careful when eating, especially children.

Add a big green salad if desired, and frosty beverages of your choice (plus a dessert maybe?) for a meal to remember.