The delights of 'Pasta al Forno'

Yesterday I wrote about the joys of  the Italian Timballo: the baked pasta dish that is as popular in Italy as baked Lasagne or Cannelloni dishes, yet hardly known outside Italy. I forgot to mention the delights of a Pasta al Forno (baked pasta), another very popular baked pasta dish that isn't eaten much outsite Italy. It is similar to the Timballo except that it isn't in a moulded 'cake' or 'pie' form, but gratinated with bechamél sauce and served directly from its baking tin. Sometimes referred to as Pasticcio, the Italian word for 'mess' (as in "That's another fine mess you got me into!"), this dish is literally a pasta mess. 

As with other Italian dishes, the ingredients will vary from north to south Italy, depending on the local produce, but generally it is composed priamarily of pasta (usually large tube shapes like rigatoni or maccheroni) and a ragú (meat sauce), with additions such as cured meat like mortadella, prosciutto or salame, diced cheese, chopped sausage or fried aubergine/eggplant, mixed together to form the 'mess', topped with Bechamél Sauce and baked in the oven until the sides go a little crispy.

In some Sicilian towns Pasta al Forno goes under the dielect name of Pasta 'ncasciata (pronounced in-cash-atah) and is extremely popular as a first course on Sundays and Festas (religious feast days). My family tradition is to add a layer of hard boiled egg slices before adding the bechamél sauce...

Pasta al Forno 'ncasciata - Simply delicious...

If YOU would like to recreate my family's recipe for Pasta al Forno 'ncasciata, then please visit my recipe pages at http://www.lasiciliana.net/i-primi-piatti.html