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

The joys of the 'Timballo' - a true taste of Italy...

Il Timballo Siciliano

Whilst many of you will have embraced baked Lasagne and Cannelloni dishes, Timballo dishes are surprisingly not very well known outside Italy. In Italy this very delicious dish is as popular as its other baked cousins and could best be described as a savoury 'cake' or 'pie'. A Timballo will consist of a rice or pasta filling that is baked in a round, dome shaped baking tin or mould, and then turned out. It takes a lot of preparation so would usually be eaten on Sundays or on special occasions. 

Rice Timballo

Ingredients vary from northern to southern Italy; in north Italy game birds such as pigeon can be used to make the ragú (meat sauce). In the south ragús are made with a mixture of pork and/or beef mince or have tiny meatballs (the size of a thumbnail), chopped ham or chopped Italian pork sausage running through it. Some Timballos are encased in short-crust pastry, whilst in Sicily they are usually encased in breadcrumbs and fried aubergine/eggplant. Each family will have a favourite way of preparing it.
 

My step-mother's Timballo with tiny meatballs running through the sauce.
A real family favourite.

To assemble a Sicilian Timballo

Prepare some Ragú 'alla Siciliana' (Sicilian meat sauce) with or without the peas - Click here for my Ragú 'alla Siciliana' recipe.

Prepare some Annelletti pasta - the pasta needs to be undercooked and quite 'al dente'.
 
 Mix the pasta with the Ragú sauce and some cubed Caciocavallo cheese (use mild Cheddar or Mozzarella if you are unable to find this). 

Grease a deep round oven-proof mould or baking tin with a generous amount of butter and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Make sure the breadcrumbs totally cover the base and the insides of the tin. Add more breadcrumbs and grated cheese to the base.

 Arrange some fried aubergine/eggplant slices on the base of the baking tin; to fry the aubergines slice them to about 1cm thickness, arrange them on a tray or platter and sprinkle them with a generous amount of salt. After about an hour rinse them well and dry with kitchen paper. Fry them in hot oil until they are nice and golden on both sides. 
 Cover the fried aubergine with the mixed pasta and meat sauce - mixture shouldn't be too runny - and press down a little. Add another thick layer of breadcrumbs and caciocavallo to the surface of the pasta.


 Bake in a pre-heated oven at about 190 degrees for about 40 minutes. Remove the tin from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes. Turn out onto a large plate or tray. Once turned out your Timballo should look something like this...

Delicious Timballo..

 Once you cut into it all the goodness should ooze out like this...

Can't wait to tuck in...Buon Apetito!

Sicilian Cuisine - rustic but never ever poor...

'La Siciliana' focuses on the family recipes of the south, or rather the beautiful Mediterranean island of Sicily. I'll leave northern Italian cuisine safely in the hands of my Lombardian and Piedmontese cousins - although you might see the odd recipe pop up now and again.

Sicilian cuisine, because of its simplicity and limited ingredients, is often defined by professional chefs as 'rustic' rather than 'fine' dining. It may be defined as rustic, but it is never ever poor! The cuisine is driven primarily by women. They possess a passion for cooking and a wealth of knowledge passed down orally, from mother to daughter, over many centuries. 

In Sicily dishes are mainly composed of locally sourced ingredients such as vegetables, fish, cheese and meat, whilst the Queen of the table is of course pasta which is prepared and adorned in numerous tasty and inventive ways. If you compare Sicilian cuisine to a stage play then healthy vegetarian or fish based dishes take on the starring role; meat does have a part to play but it is usually the supporting act. Especially popular as a first course during the cooler winter months are pulses (fresh or dried broad beans, lentils and chickpeas). 

Dishes are seasoned with the local sea-salt and aromatic herbs that grow in abundance on the island together with lemon juice, pine nuts, almonds, pistachios, raisins and olive oil. Dairy products such as cream and butter are hardly used at all, except in some modern sauces, pastries and cakes etc. Cold pressed unfiltered extra-virgin olive oil is purchased in refillable containers from the local olive farmer and rarely from a supermarket. It is thick, deep green and cloudy. It is used in place of butter to cook and bake with, as well as to dress food. In this pure cold pressed unfiltered form its health giving benefits are well documented by scientists whose research reveals that eating a Mediterranean diet, rich in extra-virgin olive oil, cuts the chances of those at risk of heart attacks and strokes by 30%. 

FOOD FOR THOUGHT:  For thousands of years Italian people enjoyed the good health associated with a healthy diet, so it's no surprise then that as dishes containing higher quantities of red meat, cream, butter etc have slowly started to creep into Italian shopping trolleys, that obesity, heart disease, cancer, diabetes etc levels have  started to creep up as well.

Simply grilled - Seafood a staple of the Sicilian diet.