Neapolitan baked pasta, not just the “holiday” dish, but much more! It is the dish of memories; surely for each of us there is an indelible memory of a special baked pasta that takes us back in time. I have more than one memory: the first is of my mother, she often made it on Sundays, with lots of little meatballs and rigatoni. The other is linked to the baked pasta my sister-in-law prepared on important holidays… Easter, Christmas, New Year. She made it with “schiaffoni” better known as paccheri, without meatballs, but with crumbled pieces of meatballs (it was quicker) 😜 For both of them I don’t know what I would give to be able to eat them once more 😋 baked pasta is therefore my dish of the heart ❤️
I prepare it in the traditional way, I prefer it with rigatoni and I certainly love to dress it with an excellent meat ragu. I put everything that is needed: cured sausage, little meatballs, hard-boiled eggs, scamorza… all roughly chopped and during baking it must not be missing the “arruscatura”, that is some slightly burnt pasta!
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Moderate
- Rest time: 30 Minutes
- Preparation time: 2 Hours 30 Minutes
- Cooking time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- as needed Meat ragu
- 18 oz rigatoni (Or paccheri)
- a few basil leaves
- 11 oz ground veal
- 2 eggs
- 1 bread roll (Stale (crumb))
- 2 tablespoons grated Grana cheese
- as needed salt
- as needed sunflower oil (For frying)
- 2 eggs (Hard-boiled)
- 11 oz scamorza (Or fiordilatte)
- 7 oz sweet cured sausage (Or Neapolitan salami)
- as needed grated Grana cheese
- as needed pepper (Optional)
- 1 1/4 cups buffalo ricotta
Steps
Proceed with preparing the ragu. Follow your family recipe, but I recommend preparing it, if possible, the night before.
In a bowl put the ground meat with the bread crumb previously soaked in water and squeezed out. Add all the ingredients and mix well.
After mixing everything, with wet hands make small balls the size of a hazelnut.
Heat the pan over medium heat with the frying oil and add the meatballs. When they are nicely golden, remove them with a slotted spoon and place them on absorbent paper.
Cut the scamorza into cubes.
Cut the cured sausage into strips.
Blend the ricotta with the ragu.
Cook the pasta al dente and dress it with part of the ragu.
Mix the ricotta and the sausage into the pasta, with plenty of grated cheese.
Pour half of the pasta into the baking dish and fill the first layer with the remaining ingredients.
Complete with the second layer of pasta and a generous sprinkle of grated Grana cheese, pepper and, if there’s any ragu left, add it — the pasta should be nicely saucy.
Bake in the oven at 356°F for about 30 minutes; I like it a bit “arruscata” (slightly charred). Remember that every oven has its own cooking times!
