Recipe Review

Last night I made the following recipe:

3 Cheese Penne with Broccoli

3 tbsp oil
3 cup broccoli florets
fresh garlic
2 1/2 cups penne
2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 cups ricotta cheese
2 cups marinara sauce
1/3 cup of parmesan cheese
salt & pepper to taste

Set oven at 400F. Grease baking dish. Saute broccoli and garlic in oil for a few minutes, set aside. Mix sauce, 1 cup of mozzarella, 3/4 cup of ricotta and 3 tbsp of parmesan. Add in cooked penne and broccoli. Toss and season with salt and pepper. Transfer to baking dish, spread with remaining ricotta, sprinkle with remaining mozzarella and parmesan. Bake for about 20 minutes or until cheese melts.

So, my thoughts on this recipe? Well for starters, as I mentioned yesterday I had to substitute cottage cheese for the ricotta. It was pretty close but I did find that the cottage cheese still contained more whey than ricotta does and slightly watered down the sauce. I found that, once baked, the broccoli took on a bitter taste that my son and I did not appreciate. (I definitely prefer my broccoli raw or slightly steamed.) Luckily though, I had also added a small onion and some cremini mushrooms to the saute pan which, in my opinion, really improved the dish. If I was to actually make this again, I would omit the broccoli altogether and just use the mushrooms. I also found that the cheeses were a little on the bland side. The addition of provolone or a smoked mozzarella would have been a much better choice. That said, I think that it's reasonable to conclude that I will not find those cheeses in Deer Lake and will have to wait until I head to Corner Brook again.

So, to wrap up my review, I don't think that I would ever make this dish by the recipe again. I found the final result to be very disappointing.

Quote of the day:
"When baking, follow directions. When cooking, go by your own taste." Laiko Bahrs