There’s nothing more comforting than warm cheesy pasta especially if it’s a particularly cold day. I mean, let’s be honest, pasta on any day is fine but I seem to crave it more when it’s cold. Is there any science to that, I wonder? Probably not. Making a yummy comforting pasta dish doesn’t have to take all day either. On the days when you don’t have a lot of time to spare, an easy pasta bake is just what the doctor ordered.

Does anyone know what broccoli rabe is? I’ve eaten it before but I never really knew what it was. I just assumed it was fancy broccoli and that was it. After I made this pasta, I decided to do a little research on this little unknown vegetable. I love learning different food facts so off I went to figure out broccoli rabe.

So you may have seen broccoli rabe marketed as rapini or spelled ‘raabe’ instead of ‘rabe’. Broccoli rabe is slightly bitter in taste; I found that baking or roasting it makes the bitterness even more prevalent. You also may see a lot of broccoli rabe in Italian dishes. The most surprising fact that I found about this veggie is that it’s in the same family as turnips. In fact, the leaves from broccoli rabe are often cooked in such a way that is reminiscent of turnip greens. Who knew?

Despite its bitter taste, I thought it went really well with this easy pasta bake. I could see other veggies being used though, like broccolini or spinach.

Easy pasta bake: the details

This is one recipe I wish I could take all of the credit for but I cannot. I found it over on Half Baked Harvest. Have you ever been to this site? It’s one of my favorites for inspiration. The photos are great and the recipes are easy to follow – you can’t get much better than that, guys.

So back to the rigatoni. I didn’t change a lot of things about this recipe (which is why you can head to Half Baked Harvest to find it) but I will provide you with a couple of notes.

• I used bacon rather than pancetta. The only reason for doing that was simply because I had bacon on hand. Pancetta is delicious, though.
• I used herbes de Provence instead of thyme.
• Pay close attention to the pasta once it’s in the oven. Bake times will vary. Your best bet is to bake until the cheese melts. My noodles got pretty hard and crunchy in the oven (I over-baked) but the husband liked it.

If you’re on the hunt for something to make for dinner tonight, look no further!