Recently a young man visited Town with his family and as we were talking he told me that he was starting to enjoy cooking at home for his lovely wife, but that when he had to cook for his mates at the fire station it was a challenge. I told him that once a month I’d put a recipe up here for him to try. Feel free to try it yourself. It makes a hearty dish so use this recipe when you have a herd stopping by or you want a lot of leftovers.
Note that this dish is also designed for a bunch of hungry, crazy, physically active people so I’m not in any way trying to make it “healthy.” I’ll post something more healthy next week.. This is GREAT for a cold night.
Baked Rigatoni with Sausage and a Surprise
Ingredients
1lb Italian Sausage, either without casing or casings removed
1 16oz can good quality petite diced tomatoes (not “italian style, just plain)
1 16oz can good quality tomato sauce
1 6oz can good quality tomato paste
2 shallots, diced
4 garlic cloves, smashed
1 TBS dried italian herb mix (at the grocery store)
2 TBS Olive Oil (Preferably NOT Extra Virgin as this tends to burn)
1 8oz package Ciliegine Mozzarella, surprise!, drained (little mozzarella balls in the specialty section at any grocery store)
8-12oz freshly grated parmesan - from a cheese grater, not from the store
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 LB Rigatoni Pasta
Preheat your oven to 400. (Pasta can be prepared ahead of time, held and cooked when you’re ready to eat. Handy in a firehouse…
Prepare the pasta according to the directions on the box, but remove it from the water just a bit before it’s done. We’re going to bake it with the sauce and we don’t want to kill it. Reserve two cups of the pasta water before draining. Also! SALT the water. Like a lot of salt. It should almost taste like the ocean. (Not that it’s a good idea to swallow ocean water, but I know you have….) A drizzle of olive oil in the pasta water will help the pasta avoid sticking, but if you wait until the water is at a rolling boil and then stir vigorously while you’re pouring the pasta in the water, and again about 15 seconds later you should be fine. (This works for any pasta).
Add the sausage to a large frying pan or non-stick wok over medium high heat. While it’s cooking break it up with a potato masher or slotted spoon, cook until the fat is rendered (the fat is cooked out of the sausage) and it’s slightly browned. Using a slotted spoon remove the sausage from the pan, but leave the fat.
Leaving the pan on the heat, add the olive oil to the sausage fat and then add the shallots and stir for 30 seconds. (Don’t use a measuring spoon for the olive oil and don’t use a stop watch. These are all “approximate” guidelines). Add the garlic and stir for another 15 seconds. Add the tomato paste and stir for about a minute. Add the canned tomato and tomato sauce, the herbs and the crushed red pepper, stirring together with the paste, shallots and garlic.
When the sauce comes to a boil reduce the heat to low. Add the rigatoni to the sauce and stir to combine. Add some of the pasta water if you need to expand the sauce. Remove from the heat and add the mozzarella balls. Stir once or twice to distribute, but don’t over stir. You don’t want them to melt.
Prepare a 9X13 inch casserole (Like a pyrex but I hate the noise these make so I use ceramic bakers instead, but you probably won’t have a ceramic baker so just use a pyrex, with ear plugs) with non-stick cooking spray or butter. (Don’t forget this or whoever is doing dishes will want to kill you). Pour the pasta into the dish. Top with 1/2 of the parmesan. If you want to make it taste even better you can cut up a stick of butter and “dot” the top with the butter (over the cheese).
At this point this dish can be placed in the oven uncovered for about 20 minutes, or held on the counter for up to an hour - still cooking for 20-25 minutes. If you need to refrigerate the dish increase the cooking time to about 35 minutes and cover the pasta with foil for 1/2 the cooking time.
Serve with the rest of the grated parmesan, a baguette sliced in half (length wise) drenched in butter and warmed in the oven, and a large caesar salad - just use the bag from the store.
Prepare to be appreciated.