Pasta is such an amazing comfort food that it’s hard to imagine making it any better than it already is. Absolutely overflowing with your favorite sauces, toppings, and cheese, pasta is practically perfect in every way! We’ve been racking our brains to think of other types of food that can even come close to pasta, and then it hit us – fried foods and sandwiches are just as epic. So what did we do? We combined all 3 to make the ultimate dish: fried pasta sandwiches! And to sweeten the already delicious deal, we’ve also come up with 3 different recipes featuring our favorite ways to serve pasta. Rich penne Bolognese, fresh sun-dried tomato & pesto fusilli, and creamy pumpkin mac & cheese fried sandwiches are all just waiting to tickle your taste buds. The pasta-bilities are endless!
Fried Pasta Sandwiches
Equipment
- Large Pot
- Blender
- Frying Pan
- Juice or milk carton
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1-2 carrots, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 3/4 cup tomato sauce
- 8 oz penne pasta, cooked
- 1 cup grated parmesan
- 2 tbsp flour for breading
- 2 whisked eggs + 1 tbsp cold water for breading
- 1 cup crushed angel hair pasta for breading
Instructions
- Cook the penne pasta until al dente, then drain it and set it aside for later. Heat the vegetable oil in a large pot and sauté the ground beef, chopped carrots, minced garlic, and diced onions until cooked all the way through, then season the mixture with salt & pepper. Pour in the tomato sauce and let the Bolognese sauce simmer.
- Once the sauce has simmered briefly, stir in the cooked penne pasta and grated parmesan cheese. Cut an empty juice or milk carton in half and clean out both sides thoroughly.
- Spoon the penne Bolognese into the empty carton halves and press the pasta down firmly so that the containers are tightly packed. Transfer the containers to the freezer and freeze for 2 hours.
- Set up the breading station with 1 bowl filled with flour, 1 bowl filled with the egg wash made from 2 whisked eggs and 1 tablespoon of cold water, and 1 bowl filled with crushed angel hair pasta or bread crumbs. Heat a pot filled with cooking oil on the stove, remove the frozen pasta from the freezer, and cut each rectangular segment in half. Coat both halves in flour, dredge them in egg wash, and cover them in either crushed angel hair pasta or bread crumbs.
- Fry the breaded penne Bolognese in hot cooking oil until golden brown, for about 3–5 minutes. Place the fried penne Bolognese sandwiches on some paper towels in order to soak up any excess oil.
VIDEO
These fried pasta sandwiches are the ultimate in comfort food. Fried pasta, jam-packed with flavor – we can’t even decide which sandwich we like the best!