So I'm going to make this pasta dish later...Penne w/5 Cheeses, its kind of like a fancy baked mac n cheese...But I want to add chicken, and maybe bacon to it...My question is how long and in what way should I precook the chicken and bacon, I would just add them later, but the pasta bakes to have a crusty cheesy top, and I dont want to fuck that up by mixing in the meat later...The pasta bakes at 500 for 10-15 minutes, how done should the chicken and maybe bacon be before it goes into the oven to finish cooking? Heres the recipe:
Kosher salt
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup crushed tomatoes in thick tomato puree
1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano (1 1/2 ounces)
1/2 cup shredded imported Italian fontina (1 1/2 ounces)
1/4 cup crumbled Italian Gorgonzola (1 1/2 ounces)
2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
1/4 pound fresh mozzarella, sliced
6 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 pound imported penne rigate pasta
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
Also, the recipe says to cook it in 6 seperate small dishes, but I want to cook it in one larger dish, would that change anything?
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.
Bring 5 quarts of salted water to a boil in a stockpot.
Combine all the ingredients except the penne and butter in a large mixing bowl. Mix well.
Drop the penne into the boiling water and parboil for 4 minutes. Drain well in a colander and add to the ingredients in the mixing bowl, tossing to combine.
Divide the pasta mixture among 6 shallow ceramic gratin dishes (1 1/2 to 2-cup capacity). Dot with the butter and bake until bubbly and brown on top, 7 to 10 minutes.
