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Baked Perciatelli with Mini Meatballs

Source of Recipe

From "Back Around the Table" by David Venable


Recipe Introduction

"While I adore spaghetti and meatballs, I find that spaghetti is a little too thin to stand up to hefty meatballs, especially when everything is baked together in a casserole. I prefer perciatelli, which are long, hollow pasta strands that are thicker than spaghetti. To save time, I brown fully cooked frozen mini meatballs before combining them with the perciatelli, tomato sauce, and, of course, plenty of cheese. The only thing to do while this is baking is to make a quick green salad and heat a loaf of garlic bread."

List of Ingredients

â—¦ 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
â—¦ 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
â—¦ 30 fully-cooked, cocktail-size frozen Italian beef meatballs
â—¦ 1 cup finely chopped white onions
â—¦ 2 cloves garlic, minced
â—¦ 1 (28-ounce) can puréed tomatoes
â—¦ 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
â—¦ ½ teaspoon dried oregano
â—¦ 1 heaping tablespoon chopped fresh basil
â—¦ 1 ½ teaspoons plus 2 tablespoons kosher salt
â—¦ ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
â—¦ 1 pound perciatelli
â—¦ ½ cup (4 ounces) whole milk ricotta cheese
â—¦ 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella
â—¦ ½ cup (2 ounces) grated Asiago
â—¦ ½ cup (2 ounces) shredded Italian Fontina


Recipe

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 4-quart baking dish. Line a platter with paper towels. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over high heat. Add the meatballs and brown them, 3 to 4 minutes. When the meatballs are brown, transfer them to the paper towel-lined dish. Do not clean out the skillet.

To make the sauce, add the onions to the same skillet the meatballs were cooked in. Sauté until the onions are soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in the puréed and diced tomatoes, the oregano, basil, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, and red pepper flakes and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

While the sauce is cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons salt and the pasta, and cook until the pasta is al dente, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta well.

To make the casserole, combine the browned meatballs, perciatelli, ricotta, 1 ½ cups of the mozzarella, and ¼ cup of the Asiago. Stir in all but 2 cups tomato sauce and mix everything together until well combined. Reserve the 2 cups sauce to serve with the casserole. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle on the remaining ½ cup mozzarella, ¼ cup Asiago, and the Fontina. Cover the prepared casserole with aluminum foil.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until the cheese is brown and the sauce is bubbly. Let the baking dish sit at room temperature for 5 to 10 minutes before serving with the remaining sauce.

Makes 8 to 10 servings