BAKING POWER
Nothing says comfort food like bubbling baked pasta dishes hot from the oven.
Nothing says comfort food like bubbling baked pasta dishes hot from the oven.
Paccheri with sausage ragù and mozzarella
Wide tubes of pasta are the ideal vessels for this chunky sausage sauce laced with red wine, fennel and chilli. Stand the tubes upright in the baking dish and stuff them with the sauce, making every bite the perfect mix of sauce and cheese.
Prep time 25 mins, cook 1¼ hrs
Serves 4-6 (pictured p103)
500 gm dried paccheri or rigatoni
2 buffalo mozzarella balls (200gm each), torn
Oregano and grated parmesan, to serve
Sausage and red wine ragù
1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing 1 small Spanish onion, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tsp fennel seeds
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
400 gm pork and fennel sausages, squeezed out of their casings
125 ml red wine
400 gm canned cherry tomatoes
200 gm tomato polpa (see note) or passata 1 fresh bay leaf
1 tbsp red wine vinegar, or to taste
Béchamel
30 gm butter, diced 30 gm plain flour
500 ml (2 cups) hot milk 50 gm parmesan
1 For ragù, heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add onion and sauté until translucent (4-5 minutes). Add garlic, fennel seeds and chilli flakes, stir until fragrant, then add sausage and fry, breaking it into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until browned (2-3 minutes). Deglaze pan with wine and boil until reduced by half (2-3 minutes). Add tomatoes, polpa and bay leaf, season generously and simmer until rich and thick (25-30 minutes). Stir in vinegar and season to taste (discard bay leaf ).
2 For béchamel, melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat, then stir in flour until sandy (1-2 minutes). Gradually whisk in hot milk until smooth, season to taste, bring to a simmer and stir continuously until thickened (1-2 minutes). Whisk in parmesan, check seasoning, then pour béchamel into the base of a lightly oiled 25cm-diameter baking dish.
3 Preheat oven to 180C. Cook pasta in a large saucepan of well-salted boiling water until not quite al dente (8-10 minutes). Drain and stand paccheri upright in béchamel. Spoon in ragù, filling pasta tubes with sauce. Scatter with mozzarella and extra parmesan, and bake until bubbling and golden brown (15-20 minutes). Season, scatter with oregano and serve hot.
Note Tomato polpa, finely chopped tomatoes canned in their juice, is available from select supermarkets and delicatessens.
Wine suggestion A nice Chianti.
Lobster pasta with lemon crumbs
This is no ordinary pasta bake – it’s a super-luxe version generously flecked with sweet chunks of lobster meat. The jumbo-sized shell-shaped pasta is the perfect shape to hold the fennel-laced creamy sauce. A little crème fraîche added to the mix adds a subtle tang, while a crunchy crumb topping spiked with lemon rind is all the texture you need.
Prep time 40 mins, cook 45 mins (plus chilling)
Serves 4
1 live lobster (about 1.5kg)
400 gm dried jumbo pasta shells
50 gm butter, diced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced, fronds reserved 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
150 ml dry white wine
40 gm plain flour
1 litre (4 cups) hot milk
200 gm crème fraîche
100 gm parmesan, finely grated
Juice and finely grated rind of ½ lemon, plus lemon wedges to serve
Pinch of cayenne pepper
60 gm coarse sourdough breadcrumbs 2 tbsp olive oil
Finely chopped chives, to serve
1 Place lobster in freezer to render it insensible (40 minutes), then kill it humanely (see cook’s notes p117). Cook lobster in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until bright in colour
(7-8 minutes). Refresh in iced water then drain.
2 Meanwhile, preheat oven to 180C. Cook pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until not quite al dente (6-8 minutes). Drain, reserving 2 tbsp cooking water, and return both to pan.
3 Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat, add onion, fennel and garlic, and sauté until translucent (4-5 minutes). Deglaze pan with wine and simmer to reduce completely (1-2 minutes). Stir in flour, then, stirring continuously, gradually add milk and stir until smooth. Bring to a simmer, stir continuously until thickened (2-3 minutes), then stir in crème fraîche and parmesan and season to taste.
4 Twist lobster head and body in opposite directions to separate (do this over a bowl to catch the juices). Cut down through the tail, remove meat and coarsely chop. Stir lobster and reserved juices into sauce, along with lemon juice and cayenne pepper, then add to pasta, stir to combine, then transfer to a 2.5-litre baking dish.
5 Combine breadcrumbs, oil and lemon rind in a bowl, season to taste, then scatter crumbs over pasta and bake until the filling is bubbling and topping is golden brown (25-30 minutes). Scatter with fennel fronds and chives, and serve hot with lemon wedges.
Wine suggestion Blanc de blancs Champagne.>