Giada De Laurentiis' Farmer's Pasta Features 4 Italian Cheeses

For Chef Giada De Laurentiis, more is more when it comes to making cheesy, creamy farmer's pasta recipes. As revealed on the Food Network's "Everyday Italian," the chef and cookbook author loads up batches of noodles with not one, not two, not three, but four different types of cheeses.

While stirring simmering pots of creamy garlic-flavored milk and flour on her stove, De Laurentiis reaches for fontina, mozzarella, provolone, and parmesan cheese to prepare a decadent mixture to whisk and introduce to a batch of al dente rigatoni noodles. Combined with fresh parsley and basil, mixed with pancetta, and seasoned to taste, this luxurious combination is spooned into a baking dish and topped with drizzles of extra virgin olive oil and generous sprinklings of bread crumbs. This baked dish needs only 20 minutes to reach golden perfection and be ready to serve. With so much flavor packed into each bite, this cheesy pasta is guaranteed to offer plenty of satisfying comfort.

Read more: 44 Types Of Pasta And When You Should Be Using Them

A Decadent Comfort Dish

While this cheesy baked pasta is delicious and served as is, the vegetarian-friendly recipe can also be boosted with broccoli florets, spinach leaves, or sundried tomatoes for an added jolt of aesthetic color and nutrition. If you don't find the exact cheeses De Laurentiis uses in her recipes, feel free to substitute and swap with asiago, gouda, extra-sharp cheddar, raclette, and pecorino. Meat lovers might appreciate pieces of sausage or chicken added to the cheesy recipe, while vegetarian friends can nosh on recipes with mushrooms folded into dishes.

Experiment using different kinds of pasta shells to make the recipe and be sure to place crunchy garlic bread onto the table so every last morsel can be sponged up off of plates. You may want to leave a small bowl of parmesan out for diners to bring even more bold, cheesy goodness to their plates, and freshly cracked black pepper can be a warming favorite to garnish plated servings.

Read the original article on Tasting Table.