This Italian Crumb recipe & Pasta Bake variation of the SkinnyMediterranean Baked Pumpkin Gnocchi with Four Cheese Sauce has been on my to-make list for a couple of months and I’ve finally found the time!
I LOVE creamy pasta with chicken, bacon and broccoli. When Mez & I made this pasta bake in the Skinny kitchen using the Four Cheese Sauce from SkinnyMediterranean … we honestly couldn’t stop eating it.
The Italian Crumb really adds the perfect crunch on top of the pasta bake. You can also use it to crumb some chicken, fish or even Chicken Kievs (drool)!
Making the Italian Crumb is very easy. It uses crusty bread of choice, Parmesan cheese and some herbs and spices. I find the Italian Crumb is best made fresh, but if you have some stale bread you would like to crumb and then freeze – you can totally do that too.
This isn’t a shelf stable crumb, you can’t make it and keep in the pantry.
Who else loves a good pasta bake hack?
Here’s what we did:
Make the Italian Crumb (recipe below) Cook your pasta – I used 500g pasta but you can use 250-300 g pasta if you prefer more sauce. Sizzle 300 g chopped bacon pieces Chop 1 chicken breast, extra small pieces or cook the chicken. You can also use shredded BBQ chicken. Cut up 1 broccoli into small florets and add raw Throw everything into a big metal baking dish Stir through that dreamy Four Cheese Sauce (from the Baked Pumpkin Gnocchi in our SkinnyMediterranean cookbook) – if you like extra sauce, you can double this! Top with the Italian Crumb Bake at 180°C for 20-30 mins until golden & cooked throughWhat else can I use the Italian Crumb for?
- Chicken Kievs
- Arancini
- Toast it and sprinkle on pasta or risotto
- Toast and use in a Caesar Salad
Equipment
- Thermomix
- Blender
Ingredients
- 60 g Parmesan cheese
- 200 g crusty bread - gluten-free if required
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dried oregano - ix
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp chilli flakes - optional
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
Thermo cooker
- Add Parmesan to dry mixer bowl. Chop for 5 sec/speed 9/MC on.
- Add remaining ingredients and chop for 5-10 sec/speed 5/MC on depending on texture preference.
Conventional
- Add Parmesan to dry blender or food processor. Blitz until finely grated.
- Add remaining ingredients and pulse until desired texture