Sweet potato and pimento cheese pasta bake
Original Blog Post: http://greedygirlcooks.blogspot.com/2016/06/sweet-potato-and-pimento-cheese-pasta.html
Ingredients
Pimento cheese
2 roasted red peppers
8 oz Pepper jack cheese
8 oz Cream cheese
8 oz Sharp white cheddar
4 oz parmesan cheese
Between ¼ and ½ cup milk
1 teaspoon Smoked paprika
¼ cup Onion
1 stalk Scallion
4 cloves Garlic
½ teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Onion powder
¼ teaspoon allspice
¼ teaspoon Black pepper
Additional
1-2 boiled Japanese sweet potatoes
1 box cooked penne pasta
1 cup pepper jack cheese to top
Garnish with scallions or fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
For the roasted red pepper
- Place pepper on an open flame, one pepper per burner
- Char on all sides until the peppers are completely black
- Place in a sealed container and allow it to steam for 8 to 10 minutes
- For easy peeling I run my peppers under the faucet and remove the charred skin
- Slice the peppers and remove the seeds and use as needed.
For the pimento cheese dip
- Combine all the ingredients for pimento cheese in a food processor or blender and blend until it makes a smooth slightly chunky mixture. The milk is an approximation you may need more or less depending on how chunky or runny you like your dips. So add a little at a time in between blending until you get the consistency.
- Set aside in the refrigerator over night
For the pasta
- Next day place oven to preheat to 475 degrees
- Boil pasta
- Peel and boil sweet potatoes, once cooked slice into bite sized cubes
- Boil pasta to al dente strain and keep hot
- In a bowl stir together the hot pasta, sweet potatoes and pimento cheese dip
- Place in a baking dish and spread with pepper jack cheese on top.
- Bake until golden brown
- Allow to slightly cool then serve garnish with scallions and or fresh chopped parsley