Bacon, Sausage & Ham Pasta Casserole

Sorry my fellow vegans and vegetarians… (not too sorry, just a little sorry)

I do love my meat. No, I don’t mean my own meat. Well, that I love that too. My cheeks are my favorite. Maybe my lips too. Ok, focus Ai Ping. What I’m trying to say is I love love love to eat meat. A meat lover. One meat is great already but put three types of meat together and I’m in heaven.

For two reasons.

One: I died. Of meat overload.

Two: I’m still thoroughly enjoying chomping down the tri-meat.

You see. We … as in the people of Chinese descendants… Yes, I’m of a Chinese descendant. My grandpa had always claimed that he swam from China to Malaysia when he was little. How he did it, no one will ever know. My point is, Chinese eat a lot of rice. And vegetables. And noodles. Not much cheese. Or pasta. Did you know that 9 out of 10 people in East Asia and 8 out of 10 people in South East Asia are lactose intolerant. Yup.

So when I tried my first Alfredo pasta I went ‘uh oh’.

Not because I was going to have my share of air party in my intestines, but because I totally fell in love with it.

To date, I honestly have no clue whether I am lactose intolerant or not. If I drink beverages containing milk, I do feel a lil queasy. But if I consume products that are made of milk, like bread or cake, I feel fine. Yes, I’m aware that there are tests. But some things are better off not knowing, right?

As much as I love Alfredo, I find it impossible to pick up the spatula to make it. Pizza has cheese but Alfredo’s like shooting me down with its dairy-ful ingredients – butter, heavy cream, cheese and milk.

But then as if life didn’t want me to miss out on Alfredo-ish goodness, I came across Pinch Of Yum’s use of cauliflower to make Alfredo sauce. I excluded the milk and it was still amazingly delicious. Yes, there is cheese on the casserole… but like pizza, it’s just cheese.

So there you have it.

Bacon, Sausage & Ham Pasta Casserole. Made with a creamy yet light cauliflower sauce and filled with oozing melting cheese. Your intestines will probably still blow up not because of lactose intolerance but because of your ability to stop eating intolerance. If that even makes sense.

My last post: Maple Mustard Meatballs

What alternative pasta sauces do you use?

Bacon, Sausage & Ham Pasta Casserole         Serves 6-8

what you need:

Casserole filling
5 slices of bacon
1 lb Italian sausages, casings removed
4 oz ham, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 large red bell pepper, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced

Cauliflower sauce (Makes 4 cups)
1 leek, white and light green parts only, sliced
1 cauliflower head, roughly chopped (about 6 cups florets)
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chicken broth
Salt and black pepper to taste

1 lb (16 oz) pasta
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

directions:

Casserole filling

Bacon: Over medium high heat, fry the bacon in a pan until crispy. Dice the bacon and set aside. Remove all but one tablespoon bacon fat from the pan.

Sausage & ham: Over medium high heat, fry the sausage and break it up as it cooks. Once almost browned to your liking, add the ham. Fry a little more and set aside.

Onion & bell pepper: Over medium high heat, add 1 tablespoon bacon fat and fry the onion and red bell pepper until soft. Add the garlic and fry a couple minutes more. Set aside

Cauliflower sauce

Over medium high heat, add 1 tablespoon bacon fat and fry the leek. Add half the cauliflower and fry till it browns a little. Add the garlic and fry for a minute or two. Add the broth and bring it to a boil. Once boiled, turn the heat to low and simmer covered for 15 minutes Don’t worry if the cauliflower is not fully submerged in the broth. It will when it softens.

Uncover, increase the heat to high and add the remaining cauliflower. Press it down so that as much cauliflower is submerged in the broth. Once again, bring the stock to boil. Once boiled, turn the heat to low and simmer covered for 15 minutes.

Using a stick blender or a high powdered blender, blend the cauliflower mixture until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Pasta

While the cauliflower is cooking, boil water and cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and rinse it with cold water to stop it from cooking. Mix the pasta and the cauliflower sauce together.

Assembling

Pour half the pasta mixture into a 9 x 13 casserole dish or equivalent. Top with half the bacon, half the sausage and ham, half the onion and bell pepper and half the cheese. Pour the remaining pasta mixture on top and finish with the remaining bacon, sausage and ham, onion and bell pepper and cheese.

Bake at 375 F for 20 minutes. Broil for a couple minutes more (optional) until the cheese has melted and browned to your liking. Let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Notes:

1. Cooking the cauliflower in two steps gives a depth in flavor. The first batch being the sweetest as it’s cooked longer while the second batch provides a stronger cauliflower flavor.

2. If you like your bacon to stay crispy, add it after baking instead.