The pasta, potato, artichoke and pea casserole is a delicious vegetarian alternative to serve for Easter dinner! 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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Today we’ll be preparing a tasty pasta casserole, great for Easter: it’s made with seasonal ingredients and, of course, with eggs, a symbol of Easter… let’s cook it together!
Ingredients for 8 servings:
Pasta, potato, artichoke and pea casserole
(8 servings)
• 7 oz (200 g) of short pasta
• 1 bunch of parsley
• 1 lb (500 g) of potatoes
• 2/3 lb (300 g) of artichokes
• 2 cups (300 g) of green peas
• 1 ½ cups (150 g) of grated parmesan cheese
• 1 cup (100 g) of grated pecorino cheese • ½ cup (50 g) of breadcrumbs
• 1/3 lb (150 g) of stale bread
• ½ stick (60 g) of butter
• 2 pints (1 lt) of vegetable broth
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 onion
• 5 tbsp of olive oil
• 3 eggs
• salt and pepper to taste
To make this recipe, first add the olive oil and the chopped onion to a large pan, and sauté on a very low flame for about 10-15 minutes, until softened. Now add the artichokes, that have been cleaned and cut into quarters; when they are in season, you can use fresh artichokes, of course, but if you’re short of time or you want to make this recipe all the year round, you can use frozen artichokes. Let them brown for about 5 minutes, then add the peas. The same goes for peas: when they are in season you can shell and add the fresh ones, otherwise use frozen peas. Now pour in a ladle of broth… and cook for at least 10-15 minutes.
Peel and cut the potatoes into thick slices, to prevent them from breaking; add to the pan… pour in a little broth, without stirring… and cook for 5 minutes covered with a lid. While the ingredients are cooking, preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C), and boil the pasta, until firm to the bite. Now prepare the bread, cheese and parsley mixture for the casserole. In a large bowl, combine the crumbled bread… with the parsley, the crushed garlic… and finally the grated cheeses… mix everything together… add salt and pepper… and the mixture is ready.
Hard boil the eggs and cut into slices; now take the pasta, cooked al dente, and add to the pan with the rest of the ingredients… stir gently, to avoid breaking the potatoes… and add three quarters of the bread, cheese and parsley mixture; mix gently, to blend the flavours together… then start assembling the casserole. Take an oven dish, like this, or a baking pan, as you prefer, grease with butter and coat with breadcrumbs; now make a first layer, with the pasta, potato, artichoke and pea mixture… spread it evenly… two layers will be enough… that’s it. Now add half of the hard-boiled eggs… perhaps pick out the worst-looking eggs and keep the best-looking ones for garnishing… and now make the second layer, adding the remaining ingredients. If you’re not a vegetarian, you can add lamb to this recipe, or even replace pasta with lamb. Now finish with the eggs… cover with the remaining bread mixture, a generous amount… and sprinkle with breadcrumbs, to add a crispy touch… finally pour in the broth, starting from the edge; you need plenty of broth to moisten the bread mixture… and now dot with a few pieces of butter on top. Bake the casserole at 350°F (180°C) for at least 30 minutes, after that raise the temperature to 390°F (200°C) and bake until golden brown.
Our pasta casserole smells delicious, as you can see it’s nice and golden brown and the broth has evaporated; this would be a lovely idea for an Easter picnic! From Sonia and giallozafferano, bye bye and see you next video recipe!