We’re counting the days to the Super Bowl, a TV event that revolves around the celebration of American junk food. This year, we’re hearing some early buzz about Pasta Nachos. Those are two words we love to hear, so we did some research.
As we know from the ever-popular pizza joint appetizer Fried Ravioli, pasta can indeed be boiled and then fried to create a crunchy texture. If you take that idea and apply it to nachos, a delicious image starts to form. Think crunchy pasta chips topped with the ubiquitous Super Bowl chili, some sharp cheddar, scallions, even guacamole and sour cream. Just, wow.
Much of the recent talk about this dish started with Olive Garden’s announcement that from January 29 through April 1, they’ll be serving Super Bowl-friendly Loaded Pasta Chips, “an Italian twist on nachos swapping tortilla chips for lightly fried pasta chips topped with Italian Cheeses, a meat sauce with chicken, meatballs and sausage, cherry peppers and an alfredo drizzle,” according to a news release.
Sounds like a fun twist on several standby classics, so no objections here! If you’re of the same mind, Olive Garden also offered a Pasta Chips recipe for home cooks:
* Stack pre-cooked lasagna noodles on a cutting board.
* Cut each sheet into 3 equal pieces.
* Heat oil in a pan and gradually add chips to the oil; fry until crispy.
* Transfer cooked chips to basket and allow the excess oil to drain for 1 minute.
Or, you could snag some bags of these, which apparently have existed under our noses for a while now:
