Author Notes
Sometimes great kitchen disasters lead to most surprising dishes. I have a wonderful recipe for cookies with flour, cheese and butter, and was trying to adapt it to work with oats. The first batch of cookies went nowhere. The cookies fell apart and literally turned into crumbs. Correction: they turned into the most delicious crumbs imaginable. I had a great deal of dough left, and plenty of room to experiment. And that is how a lovely pasta was born. —QueenSashy
Test Kitchen Notes
WHO: QueenSashy is a self-professed cooking addict from New York City.
WHAT: A unique pasta with customizable spice and a process that's mostly hands-off.
HOW: Endure chill and bake times for the cheesy oat crumbs, then boil some pasta, and eat!
WHY WE LOVE IT: This is a cookie dough experiment gone wrong, and we couldn't be happier for the kitchen disaster. You'll swear the crumb mixture tastes familiar, and you'll agree -- a dough once destined for cookies is a revelation on pasta. —The Editors
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Ingredients
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8 ounces
old fashioned rolled oats
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8 ounces
Asiago cheese, finely grated
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6 ounces
butter, softened
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16 ounces
cavatelli (farfalle, spaghetti, pappardelle and fettuccine also work well)
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Freshly ground pepper
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Red pepper flakes (optional)
Directions
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In a food processor, grind the oats until powdery.
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In a large bowl, mix the oat powder, Asiago and butter. Mix well and knead with your hands for a couple of minutes until it comes together into uniform dough. Press the dough into a disk (or cube, or any other shape of your liking) and refrigerate for about 2 hours, until very firm.
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Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Remove the dough from the fridge, and using a cheese grater, grate the dough over the baking sheet. (Make sure the gratings are uniformly distributed).
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Bake for about 25-30 minutes. Remove the sheet from the oven, and leave the gratings on it to crisp.
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In the meantime, cook your pasta to al dente. Drain the pasta and arrange it on individual plates. Pour the crumb mixture over the top, and season to taste with pepper and red pepper flakes (this is optional -- I like them, but my husband does not). Toss well and serve very hot.
Aleksandra aka QueenSashy is a scientist by day, and cook, photographer and doodler by night. When she is not writing code and formulas, she blogs about food, life and everything in between on her blog, Three Little Halves. Three Little Halves was nominated for 2015 James Beard Awards and the finalist for 2014 Saveur Best Food Blog Awards. Aleksandra lives in New York City with her other two halves, Miss Pain and Dr. V.
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