Recently, this has become one of my favorite pasta recipes. Whether eaten on a cold, rainy night, served during a large dinner party, or given to a sick friend, it is both comforting and decadent. Also included is the recipe for Bolognese sauce. Although not usually used for baked ziti, I find it completely irresistible. When I make this dish, I usually double the sauce recipe so that I have extra to either eat that week over simple pasta, or freeze for future use.
The best way to go about making the recipe is to make the sauce, boil the water while the sauce is being made, and to then throw the whole thing together. All in all, the recipe itself is not difficult, but is somewhat time-consuming. As a result, if you wish to use it for a dinner party, it is usually easier to either make it during the weekend or the day before. Yet, no matter when you make it, your guests are sure to love it!
The recipe is adapted from a cookbook called The North End Italian Cookbook by Marguerite DiMino Buonopane. According to the cookbook description of the author, she went from being an active home cook and mother to teaching cooking classes in her local neighborhood in the North End of Boston. Her cuisine is largely Sicilian and heavily portioned. My dad, who grew up around New York and New Jersey is thrilled whenever I make one of her recipes. Somehow, those who grew up on the East Coast seem to have the same relationship to Italian American food that Seattleites do to Teriyaki or Los Angelenos do to fish tacos. As for Marguerite's recipes, they're all wonderful! If you come across a copy of her cookbook, buy it. For the recipes below, I have altered her quantities and seasonings to suit my own tastes.
Although the picture shows the ziti in a four-quart souffle dish, the quantities listed are enough for a 9x13" pan or two square 9x9" pans. If you are wish to take your creamy pasta goodness on the road, consider taking it in either a pan that you don't mind the loss of (check out your local thrift store for 9x13" Pyrex baker or cake pans) or spend a few dollars at the supermarket on an aluminum lasagna pan. This recipie is also wonderful to make ahead of time and simply pop into the the over. Serve with a nice chianti or zinfandel and a caesar salad and you have a delicious meal! For a more extensive dinner party, just buy some prosciutto, salami, roasted peppers, olive and marinated olives to serve as an antipasto appetizer. Then, serve coffee and Marsala with cannoli or cheese cake for a lovely ending.
Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients:
2 tbls. olive oil
1 tsp. whole anise seeds
1 tbls. red chili pepper flakes
1/2 lb. loose mild Italian pork sausage (if you cannot find loose sausage, but whole and remove the casings)
1/2 lb. lean ground beef (if the ground beef is not lean, cook first, drain of fat and then add back into the cooked sausage meat)
6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 onion, diced
1 tbls. dried basil
1 tbls. dried oregano
6 oz. tomato paste
1 cup. dry white wine or dry vermouth
28 oz. tomato puree or whole, peeled roma tomatoes
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3/4 c. heavy cream
1. Heat olive oil on high heat until hot, but not smoking, in large, heavy saute pan or cast iron dutch oven. Then, add anise and chili pepper flakes and allow to cook for around one minute, just until fragrant.
2. Add ground beef and sausage and stir to incorporate chili flakes and anise seeds. Then, stir mixture frequently, until all of the meat is lightly browned.
3. When meat is lightly browned, add onion and allow to cook until it becomes slightly translucent. Drop heat to medium-high. Then, add garlic and allow to for around 3 minutes, until fragrant.
4. Then, add tomato paste, basil and oregano, and stir into meat and onion mixture so that large chunks of tomato paste do no appear. Allow to cook for ten minutes, stirring after five minutes.
5. Add wine or vermouth, stir to incorporate into mixture and allow to cook for five minutes. Then add tomatoes or tomato puree and allow to heat until mixture is bubbly. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Lower heat to medium and allow mixture to cook for 15 minutes, stirring often.
7. Add cream, stir and simmer a few minutes, until sauce is creamy. Then, switch temperature to low. Stir occasionally until you wish to use the sauce.
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Baked Stuffed Ziti Bolognese
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Serves approximately 8 people generously
Ingredients:
1 lb. penne (aka ziti) or any large macaroni
1 - recipe bolognese sauce
2 lbs. - part skim ricotta cheese
8 oz. grated whole milk mozzarella + 4 oz. sliced mozzarella for topping
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese + more for topping
2 - large eggs
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
fresh basil leaves for topping (at least two large stems of basil leaves)
Special Equipment and Instructions:
9x13" Pan
Preheat oven to 350 Degrees
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Directions:
1. Cook pasta according to directions. Drain well and turn into large bowl. You may add a ladleful of sauce to keep the pasta from sticking together, or you may simply take apart any chunks of pasta that have stuck together right before incorporating the cheese mixture.
2. Mix eggs, salt and pepper with a fork until the whole is creamy in texture and lemon-colored.
3. Using a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, combine the egg mixture with the ricotta, Parmesan and grated mozzarella. Add to the cooked, warm pasta and mix until the cheese mixture is evenly distributed.
4. Thickly spread a layer of sauce over the bottom of a 9x13" pan (this should use roughly half of the sauce recipe). Top with the pasta and cheese mixture. Using your wooden spoon or spatula, spread the mixture evenly over the pan.
5. Thickly spread the sauce over the top of the pasta mixture. Then, sprinkle generously with Parmesan cheese. After that, lay mozzarella slices and basil leaves atop pasta.
6. Bake in preheated 350-degree oven on the middle rack for 25 minutes. Allow to rest roughly 20 minutes before serving.
