Wagon Wheel Pasta With Ricotta Cheese, Bacon, and Peas

Submitted by WI Cheesehead

"Not sure where I got this! But it's a filling (light on the meat) meal."

 

• Ready In: 25mins
• Ingredients: 14
• Serves: 8

ingredients

• 16 ounces wagon wheel macaroni
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 6 slices bacon
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen peas, thawed
• 8 ounces ricotta cheese
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon dried basil or 1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley or 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
• 1⁄4 cup parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper
• 1⁄2 cup grated Fontina cheese
• 1⁄4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
3. Boil pasta, uncovered, for about 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is al dente.
4. Remove from heat, drain the pasta, and then return the pasta to the pot.
5. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a heavy skillet.
6. Add the onion and sauté until soft and lightly brown, about 3 minutes; remove from heat, and add the onion to the pasta.
7. Cook bacon strips in the same skillet until crisp, set on a paper towel to drain.
8. Once cool, crumble into small pieces, and add to the pasta.
9. Add the chicken broth, peas, ricotta cheese, egg, basil, parsley, parmesan cheese and salt and pepper to the pasta, and stir to combine.
10. Transfer pasta to a 7x11 casserole dish.
11. Sprinkle Fontina cheese and bread crumbs on top and bake in oven for 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese has melted and the bread crumbs have turned a golden brown.

Reviews

[Mandy]

I had everything on hand for this but used fussilli in place of wagon wheel pasta, this come together really nice and I also added some extra veggies to the mix. Part way through cooking it was looking a little dry for my liking so I ended up adding some cream so it was saucier once cooked which worked out lovely. Thanks for posting!

 

[Andi Longmeadow Farm]

I actually had everything on hand, which is remarkable since I am usually out of peas/bacon etc. This was, however; a delightful dish that gave my family a comforting meal, and we seriously ate the whole casserole dish. I browned the bacon first, drain on paper towel, then added onion and cooked until soft in same pan. Added all other ingredients to pasta, and cheese and breadcrumbs on top. Very quick to put together, and we enjoyed immensely. Thanks WI Cheesehead! Will make again:)

 

[Red Koala]

We ended up throwing out what we didn't force down. I had to double all of the ingedients to match the amount of pasta.

 

[ellie_]

Delicious and a wonderful change from our traditional mac n' cheese. We left out the bacon and the basil, but will be sure to try it with those next time. Thanks for sharing this keeper!

 

[mommyof 3]

This was a very yummy dish that went really well with our grilled pork chops. I will make this agian, thanks for posting.