Argentine Baked Pasta Bake

Pastel de fideos is a budget-friendly, high-yield recipe from Argentine home cooking, perfect for using up leftover pasta and turning it into a different broiled dish.

It combines cooked pasta with an egg and white sauce mixture and ham, resulting in a texture similar to lasagna but much simpler to make.

Argentine Baked Pasta Bake

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• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 6 servings
• Category: Main Course
• Cuisine: Argentine

Print Recipe

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Ingredients

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Nutrition

• Calories: 350

Ingredients

• 400 g of pasta (fusilli, ditalini, or broken spaghetti) (about 14 oz)
• 3 of eggs
• 1 cup of white sauce or heavy cream
• to taste of nutmeg
• to taste of salt and pepper
• 150 g of cooked ham, chopped (about 5.3 oz)
• 200 g of grated cheese (about 7 oz)

Instructions

1. Cook the pasta, boil the pasta in salted water, removing it from the heat two minutes before the package instructions, since it will finish cooking in the oven.
2. Make the egg mixture, beat the eggs with the white sauce or cream, seasoning with salt, pepper, and a generous amount of nutmeg.
3. Mix, in a large bowl, combine the drained pasta with the egg mixture, chopped ham, and half the grated cheese. Mix well so every piece of pasta is coated.
4. Pour into the dish, pour the mixture into a greased baking dish.
5. Top with cheese, sprinkle the remaining grated cheese on top.
6. Bake, cook in a hot oven at 200°C (390°F) for 15 to 20 minutes, until the surface is golden and crisp.

Tips for getting it right

• Cooking the pasta a couple of minutes less than indicated keeps it from getting overdone after baking.
• Nutmeg is key to this recipe’s characteristic flavor: don’t skimp on it.
• Mix everything well so the egg mixture coats each piece of pasta evenly.
• It’s a great way to use up leftover pasta from another meal.

Traditional variations

• Sautéed onion, cooked spinach, or already-cooked ground beef can be added to vary the filling.
• Some families replace the ham with sautéed bacon for extra flavor.

How to serve

Pastel de fideos is served hot, fresh out of the oven, as a main dish.

It’s a budget-friendly, high-yield recipe, perfect for family lunch or dinner.

Recommended sides

• Simple salad
• Crusty bread
• Salsa criolla

Did you know?

Pastel de fideos is one of the go-to recipes in Argentine home cooking for using up leftovers, since it can be made with pasta left over from a previous meal.

Its texture and flavor are reminiscent of lasagna, but with a much simpler and quicker preparation.