Baked Camembert Pasta

My family LOVES cheese. And pasta. I've been trying to break my kids out of their Kraft Macaroni and Cheese shell and try some other pasta shapes. I thought this would be perfect! It was...kind of.

My picky eater wouldn't touch it.

My little chef...loved it!

We found the little box of cheese for $4 at Walmart.  They have a surprisingly wide range of cheeses now days.

The finished dish!  YUM!

Baked Camembert Pasta
adapted from Food Network Magazine November 2009

1 round of Camembert (the kind that comes in the thin wooden box)


2 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced


1 sprig of fresh rosemary, with the leaves stripped off


Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper


1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil


1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese


8 ounces Rigatoni


1 pound baby spinach


 Cut a circle in the top of the cheese wheel (almost the whole diameter, leave a centimeter or so from the ridge) and carefully remove the skin. Add finely sliced garlic to the exposed cheese. Add a pinch of black pepper. Sprinkle with olive oil and add rosemary (sprig removed). Gently pat the top of the cheese to coat the rosemary.
Put the cheese in a 350 degree preheated oven. Bake for 30 min.


With about 10 minutes left until the cheese is done, add rigatoni to boiling salt water and cook as directed. Once rigatoni is cooked, add spinach to the pot and cook for 10 seconds (do not overcook...10 seconds is enough). Strain in colander.


Add Parmesan to to rigatoni/spinach mixture and mix. If it gets too thick, add a small ladle of the water from the pot. Season to taste. Remove cheese from oven and pour over pasta.


Enjoy!