Pasta Pie
January 1, 2013
Happy 2013! I hope everyone had a nice holiday. We certainly did, with our boys all home and lots of cooking and friends over and a few too many bottles of Prosecco opened. I know a lot of food sites will be giving their readers recipes for juice cleanses and salads and lighter dishes for the new year, but not me! I'm giving you Pasta Pie.
This is a real comfort dish - this pie has a meat crust and is filled with pasta, cheese and tomato sauce. The meat mixture is basically just the same recipe that you would use if you were making meatballs, but you press it into a deep pie pan. The whole thing bakes up in the oven and comes out nice and crispy on top. You cut it into wedges and serve it with a dollop of extra marinara sauce. It's great on a cold winter's night.
Pasta Pie
adapted slightly from Adriana's Pasta Pie
for a printable recipe click here
Using freshly ground beef makes for a lighter meat crust. If you want a spicy pasta pie, use marinara sauce with a little red hot chili pepper.
serves 8
Ingredients:
- 1 cup fresh bread crumbs
- ¼ cup finely chopped parsley
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, divided
- ½ teaspooon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 3 eggs, slightly beaten
- 1½ pound (24 ounces) ground beef (preferably freshly ground)
- 14 ounces ditalini pasta, about 5 cups cooked
- 1 pound (16 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
- 3 cups marinara sauce, divided
it's worth it to make your own fresh bread crumbs - just
put fresh bread in your food processor and pulse or
just grate the bread over a box cheese grater
Instructions:
Spray a deep dish pie pan with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large bowl, mix the bread crumbs, parsley, onion, ½ cup Parmigiano cheese, salt and pepper together until well blended. Add the eggs and ground beef and toss gently until ingredients are blended. Do not over mix. Form a crust about an inch thick with the meat mixture in the pie plate. Set aside.
Meanwhile, cook the ditalini pasta until just al dente. Do not overcook - the pasta needs to be slightly underdone because it will cook further in the oven. Drain the pasta.
In another large bowl, mix the cooked pasta with ¾ cup of the grated Parmigiano cheese, the mozzarella cheese and 2 cups of the marinara sauce. Mix well and then pour into the meat crust, forming a high dome with the pasta. Cover with nonstick foil.
Bake at 350 for 1½ hours, removing the foil the last 15 minutes to get the top a little crusty. Remove from oven and let cool 15 minutes before serving.
Slice into wedges and serve with the additional marinara sauce.
Reader Comments (27)
this looks amazing - especially the crusty edges! love it. happy new year!
WOW! Great way to start the New Year. This is the first recipe of the new year that I am bookmarking!
I know my husband will love this. Thank you so much for sharing this!
Happy new year!
No juice cleanses for me! I believe in "all things in moderation" and I think your beautiful Pasta Pie fits right in! Yum!
I just bought a box of ditalini - what a wonderful coincidence!!!! Cannot wait to make.
This looks scrumptious and another beautiful pasta recipe, tytyty! I am so making this tomorrow. All the very best wishes to you and your family in 2013.
MMmmmmm....looks so good, may add some spiciness to it...will be making this Friday! Happy New Year!
WAY WAY better than a juice cleanse! LOL! Beautiful, thank you!
Happy New Year Elaine!
I make this with leftover spaghetti and eggs all the time!
My resolution for the new year is to make this dish!
I love this idea, it's different but fun and sounds delicious. Great idea. Looking forward to trying it.
OMG, as is frequently exclaimed on the Internet. This looks and sounds wonderful ... but then so do all your dishes. I'll be doing this weekend, for sure. When I read your recipes I am sure that there's something more then Irish and German DNA in my genetic make-up. There's gotta be a whole lot of Italian, too. Thanks for sharing all that you do with us.
This sounds wonderful. Will likely make it this week!
Hmmmmm looks good and like quite a few calories in that. Hihi
Thanks for the recipe
Interesting recipe. I make cottage (Shepard's) pie all the time yet never thought of doing Meatballs and Pasta this way. Sweet idea!
Would this work with a layer of sautéed spinach between the meat and pasta?
Happy New Year Elaine! Looking forward to another year of some delicious recipes of yours!!
This looks delicious. I am going to make this for dinner over the week end. I love your recipes. Thank you for sharing.
I'm thinking that a combination of hamburger and Italian sausage might kick up the flavor a bit. Can't wait to try this recipe! Happy New Year!
I just bought a deep dish pan and was so pleased by this happy coincidence of what is clearly a beautiful recipe. Very excited to make this right away. Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful ideas. Ciao.
Happy New Year to you and yours!
You are amazing! I can't wait to try this recipe. God bless!
Made this tonight! Awesomely wonderful! I added garlic, and red pepper flakes to both the meat and my own sauce. I love garlic! So good....thanks for the recipe! It is a keeper!
Looks awesome! Do you have any ideas for a vegetarian version of the "crust"? :)))
I'm sorry to leave a negative comment but I was disappointed with this recipe.
Greasy, bland, and dry. The kiddies liked it.
I looked at the original recipe that you adapted from and I honestly gotta say, yours looks a WHOLE lot better, more appetizing for sure.
This looks like it would be a family favorite around here. Comfort food.
Always you provide exclusive ideas for me, thank you
It's very delicious, the crust is crispy, but some juicy in pasta.
Where did u find ditalini with lines?