The Unexpected Delight: Giant Penne Baked Pasta with Creamy Goat Cheese, Spinach & Zucchini

There are days when a specific craving takes hold, and for me, today was a baked pasta kind of day. My mind conjured images of something comforting, a “lazy lasagna” perhaps, or a hearty ziti bake. I pictured a rich tomato sauce, a golden, crispy layer of cheese, and perhaps some vibrant spinach or savory sausage nestled within a substantial pasta that could easily be scooped up with a fork. Ziti is often my first choice for such a dish, but it’s notoriously difficult to find outside of a specialty Italian market. So, as is often the case, penne usually steps in as a reliable substitute.

Adding to this culinary quest was a container of spreadable black pepper goat cheese, staring back at me from the fridge with a rapidly approaching expiry date. A thought sparked: instead of the usual dollops of creamy ricotta, why not use this tangy, peppery goat cheese? It promised a unique twist to my traditional baked pasta vision. With this new direction in mind, I headed to the pantry, intending to grab my trusty penne. However, I was immediately reminded of a recent vow – a self-imposed ban on buying more pasta until I’d made a serious dent in my collection of unusual shapes. You know the ones: those intriguing, sometimes whimsical forms that seem so appealing on the shelf, only to sit in the cupboard, leaving you wondering what on earth to do with them.

The Pasta Pantry Predicament: When “Penne” Isn’t Just Penne

And so, I found myself “penneless” in the conventional sense. I also had to admit, I was growing weary of the whole wheat rotini that had become the staple for our dog, W’s, “Puppy Chow.” A quick rummage revealed a bag I’d almost forgotten about: pennoni giganti, or giant penne. These weren’t just large; they were truly substantial. They reminded me of mini cannelloni, those impressive pasta tubes designed for stuffing. A new idea began to form: what if I embraced these colossal tubes? I pictured myself artfully piping a delightful goat cheese mixture into each one, perhaps using a simple ziploc bag with a snipped corner, then baking them under a blanket of rich tomato sauce and a generous topping of melted cheese. It sounded like an elegant solution to both my pasta predicament and the expiring goat cheese.

The Slippery Slope of Stuffed Pasta: From Vision to Reality

The vision was clear, the ambition high. But as anyone who cooks knows, reality often has a way of introducing itself. After boiling the pennoni giganti, they expanded to nearly double their dry size. There they sat, in the colander, resembling large, slippery tubes – not unlike calamari, if you will. The elegant piping vision began to waver. My carefully planned goat cheese mixture, which I had initially imagined as a dense, ricotta-like consistency, needed a bit of tweaking. Pure goat cheese, I quickly realized, would be far too intense and overwhelming as a solo filling. It lacked the mild creaminess of ricotta that balances rich tomato sauces so well.

So, I set about loosening it up, adding an egg for binding and some wilted spinach for freshness and color. This is where a fantastic kitchen hack comes in handy: bagged spinach is perfect for the freezer. When you need chopped spinach, just crush the frozen bag with your hands, and it shatters into perfectly sized pieces, saving you the chopping. The second half of my bagged spinach almost always ends up in the freezer for just such an occasion.

The Art of Culinary Improvisation: Bulking Up the Filling

As the spinach cooked down in a hot skillet with a touch of oil, it practically disappeared, a common occurrence that always manages to surprise me. Panic set in – I needed more bulk for these massive pasta tubes! A frantic root through the fridge yielded a lonely zucchini. Roasted red peppers or sun-dried tomatoes would have been equally delicious and complementary, but the zucchini was what I had. I quickly chopped it, sautéed it with a couple of cloves of aromatic garlic until tender, and added it to the goat cheese, egg, and spinach mixture. For an extra layer of flavor and to further enhance the creamy texture, a spoonful of pesto also found its way into the bowl. My main goal was simply to bulk up the filling enough to tackle those darn giant penne!

You can imagine the delicate dance that ensued. Filling these big, slippery tubes with a somewhat runny mixture of goat cheese, egg, spinach, sautéed zucchini, garlic, and pesto was, shall we say, a testament to patience and a good sense of humor. Let’s just say it’s a good thing we have a dog to help with any “accidental” spills that inevitably occurred during the process. Despite the comical challenge, I managed to fill them as best I could, laying them somewhat awkwardly but purposefully in a baking dish.

Assembling the Masterpiece & The Delicious Outcome

With the stuffed pennoni giganti nestled in their dish, I poured a generous amount of my favorite homemade tomato sauce over the top, ensuring every crevice was coated. Finally, a liberal grating of part-skim mozzarella and Parmesan cheese completed the assembly, promising that irresistible golden crust. Into the oven it went, baked at 350°F (175°C) until it was bubbly, golden, and utterly irresistible.

The transformation was remarkable. What began as a somewhat chaotic culinary experiment ended in a dish that closely resembled a magnificent lasagna. I could even cut it into neat squares, a true mark of a well-structured baked pasta. My husband, Mike, upon tasting it, declared it superb. And despite taking the longest, most circuitous route possible to achieve my desired baked pasta – turning what I initially conceived as a “lazy” meal into something far more “high-maintenance” – it was precisely what I wanted for dinner. The tangy goat cheese, the earthy spinach and zucchini, the robust tomato sauce, and the satisfying bite of the giant penne all came together in a symphony of flavors and textures.

Embracing Culinary Adventure

This culinary adventure with giant penne and expiring goat cheese taught me a valuable lesson: sometimes, the most delicious dishes are born from necessity, a little improvisation, and a willingness to step outside the usual recipe. It was a delightful reminder that cooking is as much about problem-solving and creativity as it is about following instructions. The unexpected masterpiece that emerged from my kitchen was a testament to the joy of making something truly special out of everyday ingredients and a dash of playful determination. So, next time you find yourself with an odd pasta shape or an ingredient needing to be used up, embrace the challenge – you might just create your own unexpected delight!

The End.

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