El Fiorino Restaurant Recipes

PASTA AL FORNO

Steps:

• For the sauce: Cover the bottom of a medium saucepan with oil and garlic and cook over medium heat until garlic browns. Add sauce, basil, salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat for 15 minutes.
• For the pappardelle pasta: Make a bed of all-purpose flour, then make a well and add eggs. Fold all together, adding in more flour if needed, and knead until a dough ball is formed, then set aside and cover for 30 minutes.
• Run dough through a pasta sheeter to form pappardelle pasta (broad flat noodles).
• For the meatballs: Combine the beef, pork, veal, panko, Parmesan, salt, pepper and eggs in a bowl. Mixture should be on the drier side. If need be, add more panko. Form quarter-size meatballs. Heat a medium frying pan with oil and fry each meatball to a golden brown color.
• For the pasta al forno: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• Add sauce to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, along with the ricotta. Stir together, then add mozzarella and the meatballs. Let the cheese melt down.
• Meanwhile, drop the pasta into boiling salted water for about 7 minutes. Strain and add to the baking dish. Mix around, then bake in oven for 10 minutes.

PASTA AL FORNO (BAKED MACARONI)

Steps:

• Mix one cup of the sauce with the cooked macaroni.
• Mix the ricotta with 3/4 cup of grated cheese, parsley and egg.
• Add salt and pepper to taste and the red pepper flakes.
• Layer sauce on the bottom of a deep casserole.
• Add 1/3 of the pasta followed by 1/2 of the ricotta mixture.
• Sprinkle with 1/3 of the mozzarella.
• Put down a layer of sauce and repeat.
• Add the final layer of macaroni and top with sauce and the remaining 1/4 cup of grated cheese.
• Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the casserole is bubbling and the cheese on top starts to brown.