I’m back with another pasta dish that I think you’re going to LOVE.
This Baked Goat Cheese Pasta with Lemon + Crispy Proscuitto is really something. It is absolutely delicious, with a sauce made from goat cheese garlic, pasta water, and lemon that clings to every ridge of the pasta. Oh, and those crispy prosciutto bits? They take it over the top.
You know by now that I love sharing new ways to make familiar foods you love, and I hope this method will be new to you as well.
A couple of months ago, a Baked Feta Pasta went viral on Tik
Tok, and it was the first food trend I felt was actually worth the hype. Word has it that this Finnish pasta technique was so popular there, that there was a country wide feta shortage. How can you not make a pasta with a story like that? It’s delicious, and pretty darn genius.
In a large baking dish, you place a block of feta, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and salt and pepper and bake it. Then you simply add cooked pasta to the baked feta and mix it in the baking dish. You end up with a very flavorful, very easy pasta that is just so fun to make.
I’ve been making that pasta every since, and have come up with some variations as well. I might even prefer this one to the original. So let’s get cooking…
ingredients in baked goat cheese pasta:
Goat Cheese: This is the base of the sauce, and lends a sharp and creamy flavor to the dish. You want to use a nice block of goat cheese rather than the crumbles, which won’t emulsify as easily into the sauce.
Pasta: Fusilli is one of my favorite pastas to use for these types of dishes as their many ridges hold the sauce very well.
Lemon: I found that goat cheese alone, since it’s a mild soft cheese, lacked depth of flavor and benefited from a punch of acid from fresh lemon.
Proscuitto: Prosciutto is one of the ingredients that makes this pasta dish sing. The crispy, salty bits offer a delicious contrast to the bright and creamy sauce.
“What else can i use?”
- I use Jovial Foods brown rice pasta in this to keep it gluten free, but any favorite pasta brand and shape will work. I recommend something with ridges, again, to help hold onto that beautiful goat cheese sauce.
- This method originated with feta cheese, so if you don’t like goat cheese you can use feta. You will want to probably eliminate the lemon in that case, and taste to adjust the sauce as needed to accommodate the extra saltiness of feta.
- If you don’t eat pork, or can’t get your hands on prosciutto, you can use another type of ham or even bacon. You can also simply leave it out, it’ll still be delicious.
Here are some other pasta recipes you will want to check out if this one appeals to you!
Slow Roasted Tomato + Garlic Pasta
One-Pan Skillet Spaghetti
Spicy Fusilli Pasta with Tomato + Cream
This pasta has quickly become a part of my weeknight rotation, and I know it will in yours. As always, if you make this I want to hear from you! You can message me on Instagram, or better yet, share a photo of your pasta to your stories and tag me. I love to share them with our community. Bon App!
Baked Goat Cheese Pasta with Lemon + Crispy Prosciutto (Gluten Free Friendly)
Equipment
- Large baking dish
- Large pot for boiling pasta
Ingredients
- 12 ounces fusilli or pasta of choice I use Jovial Foods or Banza GF pastas
- 3 cups fresh spinach
- 8 ounces goat cheese use good quality block goat cheese
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 4 ounces prosciutto, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- large lemon, zested and juiced
- Kosher salt
- Freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Place the olive oil, diced prosciutto, garlic, and lemon zest in a large baking dish and mix together.
- Move the mixture to the sides of the dish, leaving a large hole in the middle.
- Place the block of goat cheese in the middle of the dish.
- Sprinkle cheese with a few cracks of black pepper and bake for 20-25 minutes.
- While the cheese is baking, cook your pasta in heavily salted water according to the package directions until al dente, saving 1 cup of the pasta water to add to the sauce.
- When the goat cheese and prosciutto are hot and golden, remove from the oven.
- Add 1/2 cup of the pasta water and lemon juice and mix briefly to combine with the goat cheese.
- Add the hot, drained pasta and spinach and mix well.
- If the sauce is still too thick, add the other 1/2 cup of pasta water and taste for seasoning, adding salt if needed.
- Serve and enjoy!
