This baked pasta is one of my favorite childhood dishes: it wasn't something we ate often, and I remember ordering it more than once to celebrate my birthday.
It is lighter and easier than lasagna, and many baked pastas loaded with cheese.
The most essential version is seasoned with a little - really a little - of butter and cheese, mixed with a fairly light béchamel and baked in the oven.
The family recipe is based on the
Talismano della felicità
from Ada Boni, and incorporates a little
prosciutto cotto
, which you can replace with a good cooked ham or some lacón that they sell cut thickly.
If you are a cheese nut, you can make the Neapolitan version, with mozzarella cut into small cubes.
A few minutes in the oven, and it's ready: if you think about it, the process was quick.
While the water boils and the pasta cooks, you make the bechamel, mix everything, in the oven and outside;
In less than 35 minutes you have it ready.
In Italy a format called
ziti
would be used , which are like long straws of pasta.
My mother cooked them whole, but the most common thing is to break them, so don't worry about being 100% correct and use a short, long pasta, like penne
or
macaroni.
With baked pasta it is not necessary to worry about the al dente point, it is still a good idea to cook it a couple of minutes less so that when it comes out of the oven it is not overcooked.
But that, like everything, depends on taste.
Time:
35 minutes
Difficulty:
You have to grate cheese.
Can you handle it?
Ingredients
For 4-6 people
500 g short macaroni-type pasta, penne or, if you can find it, ziti
70g butter
150 g cooked ham
1 mozzarella (optional)
150 g grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano
2 tablespoons breadcrumbs
For the bechamel
30g butter
30g flour
500g milk
Instructions
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