CAVATELLI MURGIANI AL FORNO (BAKED)

  Came across these Cavatelli Murgiani at the local Farmers Market.  Purchased them for the first time and decided to bake them with ricotta and mozzarella.

INGREDIENTS

  

1/2 lb. Cavatelli Murgiani
1/4 cup of olive oil
• 
  

1/2 onion chopped

2 cups of crushed tomatoes

Fresh parsley

Couple of basil leaves

Salt and pepper

1 cup of ricotta

1 egg

4 oz. mozzarella (grated)

1/4 cup of grated cheese

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain; set aside.
• In a large skillet add olive oil and onion.  Cook onion until golden, add tomatoes, parsley, basil leaves and salt and pepper.  Cook sauce for half hour.
• Beat the egg slightly, add ricotta and mozzarella.  Mix slightly.
• In a baking casserole, add a little sauce.  Add the cooked pasta.  Then add the ricotta and mozzarella mixture.  Stir gently to combine. Add the remaining sauce.
• Bake covered in a 375-degree oven for 30 minutes.  Uncover and sprinkle with grated cheese. 
• Bake for 5 more minutes.

Bowtie Pasta with Mozzarella and Cherry Tomatoes

What better way to celebrate the arrival of summer than with a very fresh plate of pasta with cherry tomatoes and mozzarella? A quick and light dish, perfect for dinner in the hottest season.

• 1/2 lb. pasta
• 5 teaspoons olive oil
• Small chopped onion
• 2-1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
• salt
• pepper
• 4 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• Few leaves of fresh basil

Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and cut the mozzarella into cubes.  Wash the basil and chop it.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat; sauté onion until tender.  Stir in tomatoes, salt and pepper; heat through. Remove from heat; stir in cheese and basil.

Once cooked, drain the pasta and add it to the pan with the sauce.  Cook for a few minutes, in order to mix the mixture.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

BAKED LASAGNA: A classic della cucina Italiana!

Lasagna: our family favorite!

I make it just on special holidays (Christmas, Easter and Carnevale) as it requires a lot of work and it's too rich of a dish to eat weekly.

Firstly, let me say that my lasagna is not Americanized. I start with thin layers of fresh egg pasta, mozzarella or scamorza, a little Parmigiano Reggiano, small meatballs and, of course a simple sauce (sugo semplice) with tiny meatballs.  I do not overload it with too many ingredients.  I want to taste the pasta.

Fresh Egg Pasta:

1 lb. all purpose flour (unbleached)

4 eggs

Pinch of salt

There is one thing I will not compromise on---the pasta.  To me, real lasagna should be made from scratch.  Dried pasta is too thick.

     

Prepare the dough by placing the flour on a cutting board and make a well. 

Add whole eggs and salt into the well. Keep stirring this way until you have formed a sticky dough ball. Dump the dough ball onto a floured surface and knead, incorporating more flour into the dough as needed, until the dough is smooth, elastic, even in color and no longer sticky.

Once you have finished kneading, cover with a dish and let rest at room temperature for 60 minutes or more.  Once the dough has rested, divide into balls. At this point, you may flatten each ball using a rolling pin and feed pasta dough through the pasta machine until the dough is as thin as you like. 

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Cook the pasta sheets for 2 minutes.

Photo from web

Drain and run the pasta sheets under cold running water.  You may lay the pasta sheet over kitchen towels.

Photo from web

For the Meatballs:

·         1 pound ground beef

·         2 large eggs

·         1/2 cup grated pecorino Romano cheese

·         1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

·         3 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced

Form the meatballs small and sauté them in a pan with olive oil and brown them.  Add the meatballs to the sauce.

Assembly:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Spread some of the sauce at the bottom of a large deep baking pan. 
• Arrange a layer of pasta sheets.
• Spread some sauce with little meatballs over the pasta sheets 
•  Next add a nice amount of grated mozzarella and some grated cheese.
• Repeat 2 more times. Top the final layer of pasta sheets with sauce and the remaining grated cheese.
• Cover with foil and bake for 40 minutes. Add the remaining mozzarella and bake for an additional 10 minutes.
• Remove the foil covering on the lasagna for the last 15-20 minutes of cook time.  As you know, a browned top with cheese is tastier.

Let the lasagna rest uncovered for 15 minutes or so to avoid a sloppy serving.

Pure perfection!