Cheesy pasta

[Lozzalou9191]

Possibly the most pointless post 😂
so I always see ‘cheesy pasta’ thrown out as an easy midweek dinner for kids but I don’t know what it is.
Are we talking full on macaroni cheese or literally just pasta with some grated cheese on top?
Give me your how to’s on cheesy pasta!

This is fascinating and I am pretty sure I would love all the versions!

Cooked pasta, grated cheese, sweetcorn and olives mixed in. Cream cheese or tuna if we're feeling fancy. No grilling or even mixing just a bowl of pasta that they add their toppings to and leftovers for lunch. It's only an occasional quick tea maybe once every couple of months but my kids speak about it like it's the best meal they ever get fed

Mind blown by MN once again. If I heard cheesy pasta I’d think it meant ‘full blown Mac n cheese’ (funny!). But my kids wouldn’t eat this cheese and tomato option being discussed, that I think sounds delicious

The right ration is 4x more cheese than pasta, has to be extra strong mature cheddar. No butter though, perhaps a little bit pasta water to help with consistency.

In this house it's pasta, pesto stirred through, topped with grated cheese. Maybe some olives.

Making a cheese sauce is too much effort for a quick dinner so for us it’s definitely just pasta and grated cheese with some veggies.

Cook up a pack of fresh tortellini, a good dash of olive oil and lots of grated Parmesan and black pepper.

I tend to faff a bit more, but if I just want happy teenagers:

• grate or chop every last particle of cheese knocking about the fridge. Anything. Vegan fake cheese, goat's cheese, dried out random bits of cheddar.

• slightly undercook pasta & drain saving a ladle or so of the cooking water

• stir pasta, saved cooking water & cheese together.

• go & have a g&t whilst it all melts together

• chuck in any dairy oddments eg leftover sour cream or greek yogurt

• add any idiot proof veg eg chop up squishy fresh tomatoes, throw in a leftover half a tin of sweetcorn

• tip into a pyrex dish or baking tray, sprinkle breadcrumbs &/or sliced tomato on top, & shove in the oven to bubble & brown on top. Should take about 20 minutes.

• have at least one more g&t whilst the magic happens!

Cheesy pasta here is with cheese sauce but wherever I make lasagne/cauliflower cheese I make extra sauce and freeze it, so just defrost sauce, cook pasta, with peas (petits pois if feeling fancy), mix, top with breadcrumbs, more cheese, maybe some crispy bacon on top, grill.

Surely pasta with pesto = pasta pesto, not cheesy pasta.
Likewise pasta and tomato sauce = tomato pasta.
The addition of cheese to any pasta dish surely doesn't automatically turn it into "cheesy pasta" ???

For mine it's just butter then grated cheddar mixed in. Usually with peas and/or sweetcorn!

Me too! And also with jacket pots.

Single cream with tons and tons and tons of cheese melted into it, with a dollop of mustard if you're going down the macaroni cheese route.

Pasta and grated cheese here. DS prefers rigatoni because then he can poke bits of cheese into the middle and make a 'sandwich'. I think I've failed at being a parent somewhere.

Macaroni/ penne type pasta
Cheese sauce stirred in
Grated cheese
Chopped up crispy bacon

Cheesy pasta is definitely different to macaroni cheese and that's a hill I'm willing to die on.

Bring water to the boil, add pasta, bring back to the boil then put a lid on the pan and take it off the hob (or just turn heat off if you don’t have an electric hob that stays hot for ages). While the pasta cooks in the boiled (not boiLING) water, cook bacon or prawns, or drain a tin of tuna. Drain pasta, stir half a tub (or more) of cream cheese into the hot pasta with the cooked bacon or prawns,,or tuna. Top with grated cheddar or Parmesan and maybe some paprika.

Oh my gosh.
This has blown my mind!
In our house, the pasta goes in the bowl and the cheese gets sprinkled on top for the youngest.
For the eldest, the pasta goes in the bowl and the grated cheese gets mixed in to melt.
Occasionally we throw in some wafer thin ham.
Occasionally the eldest throws in chorizo slices.
If I'm feeling mum guilt then I throw frozen sweetcorn and peas into the pan while the pasta cooks.

🙈😂

Jaysus I’m salivating at these recipes!

It's one of DDs favourite meals and is very simply, cooked pasta mixed with butter and cheese (Red Leicester is her cheese of choice) so the butter and cheese melt.

Cream cheese mixed into pasta topped with a mix of cheddar and grated mozzarella

I make proper cheese sauce for a fish pie or cauliflower cheese but only ever use Philly cheese for cheesy pasta!

I 100% agree with this.

Tomato sauce and pesto do not a cheesy pasta make.

I’m joining you on that hill. In our house we have two dishes:

1. pasta with cheese
2. pasta with cheese sauce (when I can be arsed)

and classic MN with a poster mentioning they only eat it every couple of months. Hats off to you love - cheesy pasta is a weekly staple here 😆

Absolutely!

We do proper mac n cheese too but that bears no resemblance to cheesy pasta. Cheesy pasta is the same as cheesy chips and is a student staple, not a “proper meal”. I bloody love it but would not serve it to guests.