TASTE
Baked rigatoni still tasty without butter
| • | Chef Nobu shares his food philosophy |
By Elaine Magee
| |||
 |
|
||
Q. I made a very rich but wonderful dish by Giada De Laurentiis called baked rigatoni with bechamel sauce. It was too rich for us, and I would only trust you to lighten it.
A. When you said "very rich" you weren't kidding! For six servings, the recipe calls for a stick of butter, a quart of whole milk, a cup of fontina cheese, a half-pound of prosciutto, and it's all topped with 3 more tablespoons of butter. Are you ready for the totals? A serving adds up to 823 calories, 45 grams fat and 25 grams saturated fat.
I made a lighter rendition by using 1/4 cup of a less-fat margarine with plant sterols (such as Take Control — or you can use whipped butter) and fat-free half-and-half for the sauce. I still used a cup of fontina cheese but cut the prosciutto by half. I switched to a higher fiber whole-wheat or whole-wheat blend pasta and completely eliminated the 3 tablespoons of butter used to dot the top of the pasta dish before baking. The original recipe calls for salt, but I eliminated this because the prosciutto contributes plenty of sodium to the mix.
All this cut the calories by more than a third and the total fat, saturated fat and cholesterol by two-thirds.
Original recipe contains 823 calories, 45 grams fat, 25 grams saturated fat, 133 milligrams cholesterol, 1,182 milligrams sodium and 2 grams of fiber per serving.
LIGHT BAKED RIGATONI WITH BÉCHAMEL SAUCE
For the sauce:
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Coat a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with canola or olive oil cooking spray.
In a large saucepan or stockpot, bring about 6 quarts of water to a boil. Add the dry pasta and cook just to al dente (slightly tender). Drain noodles in colander and return the noodles to the large pot.
While pasta is boiling, place flour in a small bowl and whisk in 1 cup of the fat-free half-and-half to make a smooth paste. In a 2-quart nonstick saucepan over medium heat, melt margarine or whipped butter, add the remaining fat-free half-and-half and then stir in the flour mixture. Continue stirring and cooking the sauce over medium heat until it is at a gentle boil. Reduce heat to keep it at a gentle boil (or strong simmer). Cook and stir until the sauce is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 2 minutes). Remove the sauce from the heat and stir in the nutmeg, half of the fontina cheese, all of the prosciutto and white pepper (add more white pepper to taste if desired).
Pour sauce into large pot with drained noodles and mix well. Place noodle and sauce mixture in the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle remaining fontina cheese over the top and bake until the sauce is bubbling and the top is golden brown (about 25 minutes).
Before serving, garnish the top with a sprinkling of finely chopped red bell pepper or fresh parsley if desired.
Makes 6 servings (about 2 cups each).
Elaine Magee is a registered dietitian. Learn more at www.recipedoctor.com.
