Baked pastas are always great as part of a lunch buffet. This one is both vegetarian and gluten free. I wanted to come up with a way to use brown rice pasta (for my gluten free guests) that tasted as good as regular pasta.

You can use spinach or chard or kale. I love to buy bags that have all three mixed.

Because this is made in a springform pan, it looks impressive when served. You can use your imagination and tweak this to your taste. You can switch out the fontina for cheddar and the Parmesan cheese for gruyere. You can add more vegetables like diced red pepper or hot peppers if you want to spice it up. It’s also great as a main course dish served with just a salad.

This can and should be made and baked the day before. Store covered at room temperature, overnight. Store leftovers in the refrigerator for 2 days, if they last that long.

This Pasta, Chard and Fontina Torte is also great as a main course dish served with just a salad.

Roughly chop two 5-oz. bags of chard, spinach, kale or combo.

Cook onion, garlic and rehydrated diced sun dried tomatoes in large saute pan with olive oil.

Bake until set, approximately 50 minutes.

Toss the cooked pasta with greens, add Parmesan and fontina cheese, and mix until well combined.

PASTA, CHARD AND FONTINA TORTE

EVENT: Baby Shower

SERVES: 8-10 People

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes, rehydrated in warm water and diced

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 5-oz. bags chard, spinach, kale or combo, roughly chopped

10 oz fontina cheese, rind discarded and cut into 1/4-inch cubes *

2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese *

1/2 cup gruyere *

6 large eggs

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

1 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

1/3 cup Kalmata olives, chopped

2 scallions, chopped

1 lb brown rice penne pasta

Equipment

9-inch springform pan

Reusable parchment paper (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in middle.

2. Butter springform pan or line inside of pan with reusable parchment (available at my Amazon Affiliate Store). Wrap outside with foil, to catch any possible leaks.

3. Cook onion, garlic and rehydrated diced sun dried tomatoes in large saute pan with olive oil.

4. Add red pepper flakes (optional), and salt and pepper.

5. Add roughly chopped greens and toss to evenly distribute onion mixture and greens are slightly wilted. Set aside in large bowl.

6. Cook pasta according to package directions just until al dente.

7. Drain in a colander. Toss with greens and add Parmesan cheese and fontina cheese. Mix until well combined. Add Kalmata olives and chopped scallions.

8. In a blender, combine eggs, heavy cream and mascapone cheese. Blend well.

9. Pour mixture into bowl with pasta and greens. Mix well.

10. Pour into prepared springform pan.

11. Bake until set, approximately 50 minutes. After 25 minutes, check pan: If pasta is getting too brown, loosely cover with foil.

12. Cool in springform pan on a rack at least 10 minutes.

13. Remove sides of pan and serve torte hot or room temperature.

* A NOTE: Costco is a great place to purchase a variety of cheese! For this recipe, I buy fontina, gruyere and the grated Parmesan cheese there. 

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