Rigatoni al Forno Pugliese Style ___

Rigatoni al Forno Pugliese Style

Ingredients

For the Sauce:

  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1.5 pounds meatloaf mix: ground veal, pork and beef
  • 4 cloves garlic, sliced
  • 0.5 cup dry red wine, such as Chianti
  • 1 24oz jar passata
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 4 fresh basil leaves, torn

For the Pasta:

  • 1 pound dried rigatoni pasta
  • 1 pound sliced mortadella, torn into pieces
  • 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  • 1 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Directions

Get the ingredients needed in this Recipe HERE

To make the Sauce:

  1. Put a large skillet over a medium flame and heat the oil. Add the meat and season with salt. Sauté until browned, about 7-10 minutes. Add in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
  2. Add the wine to the pan and cook until you can no longer smell alcohol. About 1 minute.
  3. Add the passata, salt and basil to the pan and bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook for about 15-20 minutes while stirring occasionally.

To make the Pasta:

  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
  2. When the sauce has about 7 minutes to go, drop the pasta into generously salted boiling water and cook for half the time of the package instructions. (Usually about 6-7) minutes.
  3. Drain the pasta and toss in the sauce until all the pasta is evenly coated.
  4. Spread the pasta into a baking pan (I used Nonna's Focaccia Pan available in the link above) and add half the mozzarella, half the grated cheese and 3/4 of the mortadella. Toss to combine.
  5. Top with the remaining mozzarella, mortadella and grated cheese.
  6. Bake for 30-40 minutes until the cheese is melted and there are plenty of crispy pieces of pasta on top.