Pasta al Forno is a staple in Italy. The most common base ingredients are pasta, sauce, ham, mozzarella, and Parmigiano. The two hallmarks of pasta al forno are burnt pieces of sauce-covered noodles and slices that stay together with clean cuts. The first time I made it for someone, I told her that the burnt pieces were the best part. She was skeptical, but after trying it, she agreed wholeheartedly. The crunch is what differentiates this dish from just serving pasta with sauce and cheese. This dish is probably the favorite in the house and is one where the leftovers don’t last long at all. Plus, it’s much easier than it looks. The sauce can be made in minutes. Assembling it is easy. The hardest part is cutting the onion and grating the cheese. The rest is just waiting while the sauce simmers and the pasta bakes.
Normally, I use deli ham sliced a little on the thicker side. This time I bought some smoked ham from Costco and sliced with our food slicer and the ham was amazing. I also added some frozen meatballs, because our boys always want more meat. I also used panko breadcrumbs because I didn’t have regular breadcrumbs. I don’t think breadcrumbs add much and keep reminding myself to skip them. I added cherry tomatoes that I had because I like them, but my kids don’t.
When you are done, you can see some burnt pieces along the edge and some scattered about the top. The sure sign you got everything right is that you can cut into the dish and get straight cuts. This is achieved through use of the egg as the binder. This dish is a little tricky with getting the sauce consistency right. The idea is the sauce is runny enough that as it bakes, it will seep down to flavor all the pasta, but not so runny that it turns the dish into a soupy mess that doesn’t hold together. However, if it’s too thick, the sauce won’t run and flavor the noodles and you’ll end up with a dry dish that isn’t great. You may want to refer to the video to get an idea for consistency.
After cooking, if you have time, wait 20-30 min to serve. This gives the dish time to set up and helps it stay together. It doesn’t really effect the flavor, but it will look like it’s supposed to. My kids couldn’t wait to dig in and the pieces kind of held together, but not perfectly. Which, again, is ok.
Ingredients
- 1 Kilogram Pasta (Barilla or equivalent)
- 1 Onion (Large)
- 5 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1/2 Pound Meatballs (Optional)
- 28 Oz Tomato Puree
- 2 Teaspoons Salt
- 2 Tablespoons Sugar
- 8-10 Leaves Fresh Basil (or 1 tablespoon dried basil)
- 1-2 Cups Water (Depends on thickness of tomato puree)
- 1/2 Pound Ham
- 3 Eggs (Large)
- 2 Pounds Mozzarella (shredded)
- 1 Cup Parmigiano Reggiano (Grated)
- 1/2 Cup Breadcrumbs (Optional)
- 5-10 Cherry Tomatoes (Optional)
Instructions
- Dice the onion and add to sauce pan with 3 of the 5 tablespoons of olive oil, Cover and let the onions cook over medium for 10 minutes. Optional - I've used frozen meatballs before and cut them frozen, but it seems easier to add them here and add 5 minutes to this stage. Then quarter them in the pan with a spatula before you add the puree
- Cook Pasta in salted water, but remove at about the half way point. Cooking will continue in the oven.
- Add Puree to the Sauce Pan. Add Salt, Sugar, Basil and remaining Olive Oil.
- Add Water to the Puree until the thickness barely holds the stir marks. Like a thick soup. Bring sauce to a boil, cover and place on low-medium low, Let simmer for 10-30 min.
- Pasta should be fairly cooled down by now, Add eggs to pasta and mix.
- While sauce is simmering, grate and shred the cheeses. Get out the ham and breadcrumbs cherry tomatoes in preparation. Preheat oven to 500 F
- Start by putting a small amount of sauce on the bottom of the baking pan.
- Then pour in half the egg/pasta mixture
- Cover with sauce, then the shredded mozzarella cheese, then ham, then meatballs (meatballs are optional - I used a slotted spoon to remove them from the sauce, not important to get them all)
- add the remaining pasta mixture, cover with the remaining sauce, make sure no noodle is left uncovered. Cover with the grated parmeggiano. Then optionally, add breadcrumbs and halved cherry tomatoes (salted).
- Place in the 500 F oven for 45 minutes. Burnt pieces with sauce are a trademark characteristic of this dish. So don't fret when you see the pasta burning.
- Let stand for 20 min before cutting. May want to use two spatulas to hold the pieces together when serving.
Nutritional Information
- Per serving
- Energy: 543 kcal / 2270 kJ
- Fat: 23 g
- Protein: 27 g
- Carbs: 57 g
