EEE Cooks: Thin Spaghetti with Brie and Vegetables (Recipe)

Leftover brie is heated and tossed with hot cooked pasta and vegetables for an easy to prepare “sophisticated” macaroni and cheese. It is much simpler than our other macaroni and cheese recipes—no roux and bechamel sauce are required. We leave the rind of the Brie on for interest, but it could also be removed for a smoother sauce.

We preheat the oven to 375° F and begin heating a large pot of water on the stove for the spaghetti. While the oven and pot of water are heating, we continue the prep work by placing the chuck of Brie in an 8 by 8 inch glass baking dish. We clean the broccoli stalk, cut the florets, and put them in a large bowl. Also while waiting, we rinse and chop the tomato.

When the oven is pre-heated and the water is boiling, we put the baking dish with Brie in the oven and we salt the water and add the pasta. We stir the pasta and cook according to the package directions—about 6 minutes.

We put half a tablespoon of water in with the broccoli and cover with plastic wrap. We cook in the microwave for a minute and a half until tender. We set aside.

Before draining the al dente pasta, we reserve ¼ cup of the pasta cooking liquid. We drain the pasta into the colander and, with potholders, carefully remove the baking dish from the oven onto a trivet. The cheese is softened and bubbling on the edges. We add the hot pasta to the Brie, tossing with tongs. We could have cut the Brie into pieces beforehand, but we just keep tossing to distribute the cheese. We top with the cooked broccoli and tomatoes, tasting for seasoning.

We serve with freshly ground black pepper.

Thin Spaghetti with Brie and Vegetables

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