FRUGAL QUATTRO FORMAGGI PLUS

One our favorite dishes at a local restaurant is Quattro Formaggi but as the last time we went their it ran around $13 a plate. I searched the internet and found dozens of recipes and this was my attempt to try to copy it.

Quattro Formaggi means "four cheese" in Italian, but I used the Italian Blend Fancy Shredded Blend from Walmart and it contains six cheeses (Mozzarella, Provolone, Parmesan, Romano, Fontina and Asiago so that would be where the "plus" in the title comes in. I chose this as this as:

It contains all of the cheeses that were recommended in many of the recipes I researched: Mozzarella, Parmesan, Romano and Fontina (although several recipes contained Gorgonzola, Gouda, Ricotta, Gruyere or Marscarpone).

Walmart has a limited selection of cheeses and gourmet cheeses at other stores start at $7 lb. The in this bag  were already shredded/grated and it saved time as I did not need to shred/grate it.

The bag of cheese was affordable at $1.67 for an 8 oz bag.  The total cost to make this was under $5.00 for approximately 6 servings.

This is recipe I came up with which turned out to be closest without breaking the bank to make it:



Pasta
1 box Barilla Medium Shell Pasta
2 TBSP margarine

Cook according to directions on the box. When done, drain and place in an oven safe bow and mix in the margarine. Place in oven on low heat to keep it warm.

Sauce
1 16 oz box of Half and Half
1 8 oz bag of Walmart Fancy Shredded Italian Blend Cheese
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper


Slowly warm the Half-and-Half on medium heat and the cheese. Once all of the cheese is added, add the nutmeg. Continue to cook until the all of the cheese is melted. It will be a sticky consistency and look like this:

Pour the sauce over the pasta and serve.


This is part of Presto Pasta Nights being hosted over at Sweet and Savory.  Go over and check out all of the other amazing pasta dishes!