Sicilian baked anelletti,

is a typical baked pasta dish from my wonderful land of Sicily, a land rich in flavors, all to be discovered through local typical recipes that constitute a culinary heritage of immense value. A classic baked pasta dish, typical of Sunday lunch, that every family should try.

Baked anelletti is a recipe that requires some steps, with only one being somewhat long, which is the cooking of the ragù prepared with ground veal and pork, which is cooked slowly and for a long time. Also, as in every traditional recipe, different cities bring changes or additions.

In Messina, we add diced cooked ham and hard-boiled eggs, in addition to the essential caciocavallo cheese and strictly fried eggplants.

For the preparation of baked anelletti, it is essential to use durum wheat semolina anelletti, a small, ring-shaped pasta format that holds up well to double cooking, in a pot and in the oven.

Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Economical
Rest time: 10 Minutes
Preparation time: 30 Minutes
Portions: 6
Cooking methods: Oven
Cuisine: Regional Italian
Region: Sicily
Seasonality: All seasons

967.76 Kcal

calories per serving

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Energy 967.76 (Kcal)
Carbohydrates 69.41 (g) of which sugars 8.65 (g)
Proteins 57.78 (g)
Fat 52.64 (g) of which saturated 13.21 (g)of which unsaturated 20.02 (g)
Fibers 7.31 (g)
Sodium 1,050.22 (mg)

Indicative values for a portion of 466 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA^* and FoodData Central^** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.

^* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ^** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov

Ingredients

Sicilian baked anelletti

9 oz pork (ground)
9 oz veal (ground)
1 cup onion
2 cups peas
2 cups tomato puree
2 tbsp tomato paste
5 oz red wine
3.5 oz extra virgin olive oil
to taste salt
to taste pepper (ground)
14 oz semolina pasta (Sicilian anelletti)
to taste salt
7 oz caciocavallo cheese (ragusano d.o.p)
5 oz mozzarella
3 hard-boiled eggs
5 oz cooked ham (diced)
10.5 oz eggplant
as needed seed oil

Sicilian baked anelletti

Tools

1 Knife
1 Pan
2 Pots
1 Baking dish
1 Colander / Strainer

Steps

Sicilian baked anelletti

In a pan, pour the extra virgin olive oil and, as soon as it’s hot, add the chopped onion and let it brown, then add the ground pork and beef, with seasonings of your choice, and let it brown, stirring frequently.
Once the meat is browned, deglaze with the red wine and let it evaporate.
At this point, add the tomato puree and tomato paste, adjust with salt and pepper, and let the sauce cook for 40-60 minutes on very low heat. During cooking, be careful not to let the sauce dry out; if it reduces too much, you can add a bit of broth or boiling water.
Once the time has passed, add the peas and let them cook until the sauce thickens a bit; you should get a nice thick sauce.
In the meantime, you can make the hard-boiled eggs and…
fry the eggplant slices, and while the ragù simmers, let the eggplant slices drain in a colander from the excess oil.
Dice the ham and mozzarella, and grate the caciocavallo cheese.
Now cook the anelletti in salted water and drain them very al dente, pour them into a bowl, mix them with the ragù, diced mozzarella, 2/3 of the grated caciocavallo, diced cooked ham, and chopped hard-boiled eggs.
Butter a baking dish, then pour the pasta into the dish, cover it with the remaining grated cheese and….
….for the first part of cooking, cover with parchment paper and then aluminum foil, and bake in a preheated static oven at 356°F for about 35 minutes. Then, remove the parchment and foil, and switch to grill mode for another 5 minutes for a better gratin.
Let them rest still in the oven turned off for about ten minutes before serving.
Your Sicilian baked anelletti are ready.