Baked Pasta with Brynza and Broccoli: Macaroni and Cheese Recipe

Baked Pasta with Brynza

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As a kid, I pictured brynza as an unappetizing salty cottage cheese. Back then I did not yet know how to make fried cheese. Brynza is not especially popular here, unlike in the Mediterranean, the Balkans and the Carpathians.

Brynza is a brined cheese. It is most often made from sheep’s or cow’s milk. Its color ranges from bright white to yellowish or cream. The saltiness varies a lot from one kind to another. Unlike cottage cheese, brynza is firmer and more brittle, and sometimes even crumbles. The texture is uniform, and only very rarely does it have “eyes”. The look and character of brynza depend heavily on the ingredients, the region where it is made and local traditions.

In Bulgaria, for example, brynza (sirene) is denser and is used in cooking everywhere. Bulgarians probably make only compote without brynza. Almost every traditional Balkan dish is made both with and without it. Even fried potatoes sprinkled with grated brynza become something completely different.

In Italy, which is practically next door, brynza is a little unfamiliar. There, the cheese that counts as brynza is Pecorino. It is firmer than the brynza we are used to, grainy, and aged for a long time. And it is not brined. Grated Pecorino usually stands in for the more expensive Parmesan as a topping for pasta, when making baked pasta with cheese or with other additions.

Once I had a chance to try an interesting version of Italian pasta: pasta with cheese in the Balkan style, made not with Pecorino but with white brynza. Since all kinds of brynza are sold now, this pasta with brynza, macaroni baked with cheese, can become a great, tasty dish for a good breakfast.

Ingredients

2 servings

  • Pasta (cappelletti) 200 g
  • Water for cooking the pasta 2 l
  • Salt for cooking the pasta 10 g (5 g per 1 l of water, because the brynza is salty)
  • Brynza 150 g
  • Broccoli 200 g
  • Water for cooking the broccoli as needed
  • Parmesan 50 g
  • Basil 2-3 sprigs
  • Garlic 1-2 cloves
  • Cream 100 ml
  • Olive oil for greasing the dish
  • Seasonings: salt, pepper to taste

Step-by-step recipe

Preparing the ingredients

It is best to take a small, short pasta. Cappelletti (“little hats”), penne or fusilli work best.

  1. Boil the pasta until fully cooked in 2 l of water with 10 g of salt (5 g per 1 l of water, because the brynza in the dish is salty), following the time on the package. Drain the pasta in a colander and let the liquid run off.

    Ingredients: pasta, brynza, broccoli, Parmesan, basil, garlic, cream, seasonings.

  1. Blitz the Parmesan, green basil leaves and garlic in a blender until you get a smooth mixture of a pleasant green color.

    Blitzing the Parmesan, garlic and basil.

  2. Boil the broccoli in lightly salted water for 3 minutes from the moment it boils, then drain. Grate the brynza on a coarse grater.

    Boiling the broccoli and grating the brynza.

    The broccoli is just an addition here. You can replace it with almost any green vegetable, such as peas, beans, Brussels sprouts or even cauliflower, or add fresh herbs or green onions.

Assembling the bake

  1. Grease a baking dish with a little olive oil and put half of the boiled pasta (100 g) on the bottom.

    Putting half of the boiled pasta in the bottom of the dish.

  1. Top with the boiled broccoli florets, then add a little salt and pepper.

    Adding the boiled broccoli.

    Sprinkle with the green mixture of Parmesan, basil and garlic.

    Sprinkling with Parmesan and basil.

  2. Top with the remaining pasta, sprinkle with grated brynza and press everything down slightly with your palms. Pour the cream over it, trying to spread it evenly across the surface.

    Adding the rest of the pasta and brynza, and pouring over the cream.

How to bake

  1. Put the dish into an oven preheated to 220 degrees. The baked macaroni with cheese needs exactly 20 minutes, until it has a golden crust.

    Baking for 20 minutes at 220 degrees.

Serving

  1. Spoon the finished pasta with cheese onto plates and serve right away.

    Baked macaroni with cheese

Calories and macros

805 kcal

Serving ≈ 430 g

  • Protein37 g19% of kcal
  • Fat34 g39% of kcal
  • Carbs82 g42% of kcal

100 g187 kcalProtein 8.7 gFat 7.9 gCarbs 19.1 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

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