Baked pasta is the Sunday lunch par excellence. Tasty and rich, this recipe is sure to be loved by everyone… let’s see how to cook it with Sonia! Find this and many more recipes on the Giallozafferano App in English http://itunes.apple.com/app/giallozafferano-recipes/id384387249?mt=8
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What an aroma! Have you got some free time? Because today we’ll be preparing a traditional Sunday dish: the baked pasta. Let’s see what ingredients we’ll need:
For the meatballs we’ll have:
• 5,3 oz (150 g) of sausage
• 3,5 oz (100 g) of bread, crust removed
• 1 cup (100 g) of grated parmesan cheese
• ½ lb (250 g) of ground meat
• 2 tbsp of chopped parsley
• 2 medium eggs
• ¼ tsp of nutmeg powder / 1 clove of garlic
• salt and pepper
For the tomato sauce we’ll need:
• 4 ¼ cups (1 lt) of tomato puree
• 5-6 leaves of fresh basil
• 1 onion
• 1 clove of garlic
• salt
• extra virgin olive oil For the béchamel sauce:
• 4 ¼ cups (1 lt) of fresh whole milk
• 2/3 cup (80 g) of flour / 1/3 cup (80 g) of butter
• ¼ tsp of nutmeg powder / salt
Finally we’ll need:
• 1 1/3 lbs (600 g) of short pasta
• 2/3 lb (300 g) of provola cheese / 4 medium eggs
• 3-4 tbsp of grated parmesan cheese
Let’s make together the baked pasta:
Begin to prepare the tomato sauce by putting 4 tablespoons of olive oil with the chopped onion and garlic in a saucepan; sauté on a very low flame for about 10 minutes, until soft. Then add the tomato puree… stir a bit… and move on to the meatballs. Finely chop the bread, combine all the ingredients in a bowl, and blend them together.
As you can see, I’m forming the resulting mixture into meatballs… they are about 1/3 oz (10 g) each. When all the mixture is used up, add the meatballs to the tomato sauce, which has been brought to a boil. As you can see, the sauce is ready, it’s simmering, so we can add the meatballs; at this point, let it simmer on a very low flame for about 25-30 minutes… when the meatballs are cooked, add salt to taste and the roughly torn basil leaves.
While the meatballs are simmering, move on to the béchamel sauce: as you can see, I made it already, if you want to see how, watch the video recipe on yellowsaffron. Another thing to do is hard-boil the eggs, if you want a tip to prevent the eggs from breaking during cooking, pierce one end of the shell with a needle: in this way, the shell won’t crack while boiling. When the eggs are hard-boiled, move on the provola cheese and cut it into quite large cubes.
Half-cook the pasta and drain, then slice the hard-boiled eggs; now add the sauce to the pasta and toss well.
So, coat the pasta with the sauce, but save a couple of tablespoons that you’ll use for coating at the end. At this point, take a large oven dish, or a 12 by 10-inch (30×25 cm) baking pan, spread a thin layer of béchamel sauce on the bottom and pour in half of the pasta… try to spread the meatballs evenly around… then add half of the cheese cubes… and half of the sliced eggs… that you can cut into wedges if you prefer. Now add at least three quarters of the béchamel sauce.
Here we are, make the second layer in the same way, then pour the reserved tomato sauce over the top… the remaining béchamel sauce… and finally sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 35-40 minutes.
And here it is, our amazing baked pasta is ready! Before eating, don’t forget to let it rest for at least 10 minutes… as you’ve noticed, it’s an elaborate recipe, so you’d better make this succulent meal when you have a lot of guests over, otherwise, if you’re a single person, a couple or a small family, you can cook just the amount you need and freeze the rest in single servings. From Sonia, bye bye and see you next video recipe!