Aaron's Notes

Aaron's personal notes

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Italian-American Baked Pasta Dishes

This is a bit of a catch-all. Much like my sauce, I never use a recipe for these. I'm adding this for friends and family who have asked how I make it.

Lasagna

This is my variation on my nonna's lasagna. Very similar in ingredients to a lasagna alla Napoletana, but the construction method is a bit different.

Ingredients

  • 32 oz tomato sauce (preferably a meat ragu, but not necessary)
  • 1 lb. lasagna noodles
  • 1 lb. ricotta
  • 1 lb. Italian sausage
  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 1 lb. low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella
  • ¼ lb pecorino Romano cheese, grated
  • 4 hard-boiled eggs (optional)
  • Fresh basil
  • Salt

Directions

  1. Brown ground beef in pan, crumbling as it cooks. Set aside.
  2. Brown sausage in pan, crumbling as it cooks. Set aside.
  3. Shred or slice or cube mozzarella, set aside.
  4. Mix sauce and ricotta until the desired consistency, set aside.
  5. Slice hard-boiled eggs, set aside.
  6. Boil or soak noodles in boiling water, salted liberally, until pliable but not fully cooked.
  7. Add small amount of sauce to bottom of lasagna pan, coating it in a thin layer.
  8. Add a layer of lasagna noodles.
  9. Spoon on 1/4 of the sauce/ricotta mixture. Spread evenly.
  10. Sprinkle 1/4 of the sausage, and 1/4 of the ground beef.
  11. Add slices of 1⅓ egg
  12. Add 1/4 of the mozzarella.
  13. Add 1/4 of the pecorino.
  14. Repeat step 8 until done.
  15. On the top-most layer, add torn basil leaves under the mozzarella layer. Don't add egg to the top layer.
  16. Spray aluminum foil with cooking spray or thin coating of olive oil. Cover lasagna with foil. Crimp the sides.
  17. Cook at 450°F for at least 45 minutes. Lift foil and check to see if the cheese is melting and the liquid is bubbling. If not, keep cooking with foil on until it looks cooked, but wet.
  18. Remove foil, cook for 15 minutes or until brown and crusty on top.
  19. Let rest for 15-30 minutes. Slice and serve.

Notes:

  • The basil is there on the top layer to smell nice. It makes the house smell amazing when you take the foil off. It adds almost nothing to the taste.
  • The ideal sauce is a ragù alla Napoletana. What I usually do is add some sous vide pork skin (or pork skin braciola) to basic sauce I've canned and simmer it for about a half hour. Or I just my basic sauce.
  • Most Americans prefer it when it is extra cheesy on top. Feel free to add more mozzarella and pecorino to the top layer if this is desired.

Baked Ziti (Italian-American Pasta il Forno)

This is a generic method that would work for most pasta shapes, but is most classically made with ziti. It's about 80% as good as lasagna, but with about 30% of the effort.

Ingredients

  • 32 oz tomato sauce (preferably a meat ragu, but not necessary)
  • 1 lb. short or medium tubular pasta (ziti, rigatoni, penne, etc.)
  • 1 lb. ricotta
  • 1 lb. Italian sausage
  • 1 lb. low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella
  • ¼ lb pecorino Romano cheese, grated
  • 4 hard-boiled eggs (optional)
  • Fresh basil
  • Salt

Directions

  1. Mix sauce and ricotta until the desired consistency, in a large bowl.
  2. Brown sausage in pan, crumbling as it cooks. Add to bowl of sauce.
  3. Slice hard-boiled eggs, set aside. Add to bowl of sauce.
  4. Shred or cube mozzarella. Add to ¾ to bowl of sauce.
  5. Boil or soak pasta in boiling water, salted liberally, until pliable but not fully cooked. Add to bowl of sauce.
  6. Add ¾ of pecorino to bowl of sauce.
  7. Mix contents of bowl well. Transfer to baking dish. Top withtorn basil leaves, then remaining mozzarella and pecorino.
  8. Spray aluminum foil with cooking spray or thin coating of olive oil. Cover baking dish with foil. Crimp the sides.
  9. Cook at 450°F for at least 45 minutes. Lift foil and check to see if the cheese is melting and the liquid is bubbling. If not, keep cooking with foil on until it looks cooked, but wet.
  10. Remove foil, cook for 15 minutes or until brown and crusty on top.
  11. Let rest for 15-30 minutes. Serve.

Notes:

  • The basil is there on the top layer to smell nice. It makes the house smell amazing when you take the foil off. It adds almost nothing to the taste.
  • Most Americans prefer it when it is extra cheesy on top. Feel free to add more mozzarella and pecorino to the top layer if this is desired.

Spinach Lasagna Rolls

Lasagna noodles with cheese and spinach, rolled up and baked in sauce with more cheese on top. An old vegetarian friend used to make this, but she used really gross and overly sweet jarred sauce, and I added a few things (garlic, nutmeg, pecorino) and use quality sauce, and that make a huge difference.

This is meatless and satisfying.

Ingredients

  • 32 oz tomato sauce
  • 1 lb. lasagna noodles
  • 1 lb. ricotta
  • 1 lb. low-moisture whole-milk mozzarella, shredded
  • ½ lb pecorino Romano cheese, grated
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 lb. frozen spinach
  • 4-8 fresh garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp. fresh-grated nutmeg
  • 1 tsp. fresh black pepper
  • Fresh basil
  • Salt

Directions

  1. Thaw frozen spinach, and drain by squeezing out as much moisture as you can.
  2. Mix ricotta, eggs, garlic, garlic powder, nutmeg, and black pepper until combined. Fold in half the pecorino and half the mozzarella and spinach.
  3. Boil or soak noodles in boiling water, salted liberally, until pliable but not fully cooked.
  4. Lay out noodles, and add enough of the cheese and spinach mixture to cover 3/4 of each noodle.
  5. Roll and close each onto the 1/4 that was not covered into the mixture.
  6. Add a ladle of tomato sauce to bottom of baking dish.
  7. Arrange rolls in baking dish.
  8. Cover in tomato sauce.
  9. Sprinkle torn basil leaves, then the remaining cheese on top.
  10. Spray aluminum foil with cooking spray or thin coating of olive oil. Cover lasagna with foil. Crimp the sides.
  11. Cook at 450°F for at least 45 minutes. Lift foil and check to see if the cheese is melting and the liquid is bubbling. If not, keep cooking with foil on until it looks cooked, but wet.
  12. Remove foil, cook for 15 minutes or until brown and crusty on top.
  13. Let rest for 15-30 minutes. Slice and serve.

Notes:

  • The basil is there on the top layer to smell nice. It makes the house smell amazing when you take the foil off. It adds almost nothing to the taste.