Dream Field Pasta

[Cricket4t]

We had some people that DH works with over for supper and I’m the only low carber in the group so I made a Baked Rigatoni Cake and just made some stuffed meat balls for myself. I served it with a salad, rolls and made this LC dessert that I found in the recipe room on another forum; which by the way everyone loved and never guessed that it was low carb.

I'll post the recipe below.

I have never use Dream Field Pasta before and I was wondering if anyone who has used it could tell me if this recipe could be converted to low carb. This is one of several recipes that I like to serve to guests because it’s so easy to make, it’s really good and it always seems to delight people because it’s sort of showy.

Has anyone ever tried making a recipe similar to this with the Dream Field pasta?

Baked Rigatoni Cake
Recipe By: Martha Stewart

Salt, to pasta cooking water
1 pound rigatoni, cooked as directed - SLIGHTLY underdone
2 tablespoons olive oil
1-pound ground beef
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, or to taste
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
Butter, for pan
1 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, coarsely grated

Preheat oven to 400°. Bring a large pot of water to a boil; add salt. Add pasta; cook until slightly underdone. Drain, rinse in cold water, and drain. Toss pasta with 1-tablespoon oil to coat. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add meat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, 1-teaspoon salt, and pepper. Cook 2 minutes more. Add tomatoes; simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes.

Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Toss pasta with Parmesan cheese. Tightly pack pasta into pan, standing each piece ON END Spread 2 cups meat sauce on top of pasta, pushing it into holes.

Bake 15 minutes. Sprinkle mozzarella on top. Bake until cheese is pale golden, 10 to 15 minutes more.

Remove from oven, and let stand 15 minutes. Run a knife around edge to loosen; unmold. Cut into wedges. Serve with remaining sauce.

Note: I always wrap the bottom of the pan in foil just incase of leaks and bake it on a cookies sheet.







Chocolate Mousse

Step #1
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup strong brewed coffee (you could sub instant)
1/4 cup water
1 cup PolyD
1-3/4 cup Splenda
1/2 cup Erythritol
3/4 cup Dutch Cocoa
In a medium saucepan, bring all ingredients to a boil, whisking constantly. Continue whisking and boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat.

Step #2
3eggs
Place 3 eggs in a blender and turn blender on. While blender is running pour the hot chocolate mixture slowly into blender and blend well. Pour into a medium size bowl; cover with plastic wrap and chill.

Step #3
2 cups heavy cream
Beat heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Stir 1/4 of the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture to lighten it. Then fold the lightened chocolate mixture into the remainder of the whipped cream. Place in a covered container or individual dessert dishes. Cover and chill overnight before serving.

[Crink]

WOW does that "cake" look wonderful. Couldn't you do it with Dreamfields Pasta and eat it too?????

Thanks for sharing those pictures and the recipes!

[Bfranke]

Never tried it, but it sure looks good.
Bette

[Kevinpa]

Originally Posted by Crink

Couldn't you do it with Dreamfields Pasta and eat it too?????

The Dreamfields Penne are pretty small. I'm not sure the sauce would fill the centers very well. It does look yummy though.

[rexsreine]

This kind of "cake" is often done in certain regions of Italy. Some use a red sauce and there are others with a creamy cheese sauce and chicken. In my HC days, I even used elbow macaroni to do them and they were just wonderful. I see no reason why Dreamfield's penne wouldn't work. Great make-ahead dish to impress company!

Ginny

[Cricket4t]

Originally Posted by Kevinpa

The Dreamfields Penne are pretty small. I'm not sure the sauce would fill the centers very well. It does look yummy though.

Thanks Kevin, that's what I needed to know; I didn't want to order it, pay twice what regular pasta costs plus shipping, only to discover that I couldn't use it.

[Cricket4t]

Originally Posted by rexsreine

This kind of "cake" is often done in certain regions of Italy. Some use a red sauce and there are others with a creamy cheese sauce and chicken. In my HC days, I even used elbow macaroni to do them and they were just wonderful. I see no reason why Dreamfield's penne wouldn't work. Great make-ahead dish to impress company!

Ginny

Ginny can you tell me how would you assemble the elbow macaroni "cake" or the penne if it's smaller than the rigatoni?

[Nigel]

Cricket4t ~ that looks scrumptious!!


You could make it with dreamfield's, but it wouldn't look the same...my thought would be to make the regular one for the guests/family and then use a small casserole and make yours with dreamfield's--it won't look the same, but the taste will be there. I cannot tell the difference btw Dreamfield's and regular pasta, except that Dreamfield's hasn't ever gotten mushy in a soup.

[Charski]

WOW, that's gorgeous - and I bet every bit as tasty as it is pretty.

You could do something SIMILAR maybe with the Dreamfields lasagna noodles, standing them up and wrapping them inside the springform in concentric circles. It wouldn't be QUITE as pretty but I bet it would work fine.

[Recluse]

Hey Cricket - I'm in TX also - HEB sells DreamFields for $1.89 a box..Just thought I'd pass that on.

[rexsreine]

Cricket, most of the Italian recipes for "cakes" (known as "timballo" or "timpano", both words mean "drum") use something besides the pasta itself to make a kind of shell that surrounds the pasta and meat sauce. If you want to see a great movie that features one of these dishes, check out "Big Night". There are probably dozens and dozens of variations on this theme, but I've used cooked, thinly sliced eggplant or a sheet of fresh, homemade pasta to line the springform pan. Once, I even used a Bundt pan lined with eggplant. The various pasta, meat, vegetable, cheese, and sauce are layered into the pan and then covered with whatever was used as a lining. The idea was to get a fancy torte effect. Boy, I haven't thought about these tortes in years! Thanks for the reminder.

Since your recipe relies pretty much on just the Parmesan to act as a kind of "glue" to hold the tubes together, I don't see any reason why the cheese wouldn't likewise hold smaller pieces of pasta together - in fact, it ought to work even better with smaller pieces. I'd just mix the pasta with the cheese, pack into the buttered dish, and bake as directed. I'd probably dust the buttered pan with some Parmesan. No, you're not going to get the pretty lines formed by the large rigatoni pieces, but the dish should still hold its shape. You might even want to add a portion of the grated mozzarella to ensure the stability of the shape. If I were you, I'd probably try a smaller springform pan with the penne for just my family and see if I liked the results. You know it's going to taste great in any case!

Ginny

[That Girl]

well, i feel stupid! i am 100 percent italian and have never ever seen anything like that. my jaw dropped open... it's beautiful! wow! anyway, how do you stack the pasta without it falling down as you go on to the next bunch of noodles? i cant wait to try this. what a nice birthday dinner for someone. nice job! what time is dinner?

[mamagiff]

Looks delicious!

[Tweaker Geek]

That really looks good! It may be hard to do with Dreamfields penne if you tried to fill the holes with the meat/tomato mixture, but how about doing it in the springform pan but more as a layered dish. Like lasagne but with the pasta (penne or macaroni) mixed with cheese to hold it together, then meat mix, cheese, pasta, meat, cheese - wouldn't you still be able to serve it sliced like a "cake"? Just kinda thinking out loud here, I just know someone is going to make this!

[Cricket4t]

Originally Posted by Recluse

Hey Cricket - I'm in TX also - HEB sells DreamFields for $1.89 a box..Just thought I'd pass that on.

Thanks Recluse, but we live outside of town and the closest HEB to me is a 30-mile drive. With the price of gas it would cost less to order it.

[Cricket4t]

Originally Posted by rexsreine

Cricket, most of the Italian recipes for "cakes" (known as "timballo" or "timpano", both words mean "drum") use something besides the pasta itself to make a kind of shell that surrounds the pasta and meat sauce. If you want to see a great movie that features one of these dishes, check out "Big Night". There are probably dozens and dozens of variations on this theme, but I've used cooked, thinly sliced eggplant or a sheet of fresh, homemade pasta to line the springform pan. Once, I even used a Bundt pan lined with eggplant. The various pasta, meat, vegetable, cheese, and sauce are layered into the pan and then covered with whatever was used as a lining. The idea was to get a fancy torte effect. Boy, I haven't thought about these tortes in years! Thanks for the reminder.

Since your recipe relies pretty much on just the Parmesan to act as a kind of "glue" to hold the tubes together, I don't see any reason why the cheese wouldn't likewise hold smaller pieces of pasta together - in fact, it ought to work even better with smaller pieces. I'd just mix the pasta with the cheese, pack into the buttered dish, and bake as directed. I'd probably dust the buttered pan with some Parmesan. No, you're not going to get the pretty lines formed by the large rigatoni pieces, but the dish should still hold its shape. You might even want to add a portion of the grated mozzarella to ensure the stability of the shape. If I were you, I'd probably try a smaller springform pan with the penne for just my family and see if I liked the results. You know it's going to taste great in any case!

Ginny

Thanks Ginny, you’ve given me a lot to think about. I’ll do some research and see what I can come up with in the idea department. If I hit of a winner I’ll post the results.

Thanks for your help.

[Cricket4t]

Originally Posted by That Girl

well, i feel stupid! i am 100 percent italian and have never ever seen anything like that. my jaw dropped open... it's beautiful! wow! anyway, how do you stack the pasta without it falling down as you go on to the next bunch of noodles? i cant wait to try this. what a nice birthday dinner for someone. nice job! what time is dinner?

You toss the noodles with grated Parmesan cheese and it acts like a glue to hold the pasta together while you are stacking them on end. It really is an easy dish to put together.

It makes a good dish to serve to company because it’s simple, showy and delicious.

[Kevinpa]

Baked Spaghetti Squash Cake

I subbed spaghetti squash for the pasta.
I subbed ground turkey for the ground beef.
I used a 14 oz can of tomatoes instead of 28 oz.

[Mackenzie]

Wow Kevin..........that looks amazing! You are so talented.........

[nicole714]

This thread has made me ravenous!! (sorry TOM time)

I've subbed dreamfields for baked mostaccioli alternating layers with mozzarella and riccotta (with egg) and it's held up very well.
I think with a cheese binder it could work for your recipe.

[Cricket4t]

That looks great Kevin! I’ve never been a big fan of spaghetti squash; not even when I was trying to use it as squash. There is something about the flavor that just puts me off.

I think I may try an Eggplant Parmesan version of this recipe; we have always loved Eggplant Parmesan and low carbing the recipe would be very easy (thanks to your wonderful bread recipe that I bake sometime just to get bread crumbs).

Thanks for the ideas and the beautiful pictures.

[scorpgc]

God that looks good! Thanks for sharing this baked pasta reipe! Still going to try it, some how, some way! It's pretty too, makes a great presentation!

[BarbDe]

Wow! I don't remember HOW I got to this thread, but I am sure glad I did! What cool ideas!!
Deserves a *bump*

[silverleaf]

bump