it's my island

Spagetti Sopressata Bake

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by

andy
in ,

This week I’ve had a need for a spagetti bake.  Who knows why–comfort, memory, noodle casserole desire. I just wanted one.

I let some intuition do the driving here as I wasn’t quite sure what I was up to but had a good inkling of where it was going to head.  This is not a quick recipe but it is rewarding and can feed up to 8 or give you leftovers galore. You can cut corners and I’ll let you figure that out. For me we have a huge supply of heritage tomatoes (tear drop, zebra, polish) I wanted to assimilate.

Spagetti Sopressata Bake

  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 2 cups diced tomatoes
  • 2 cups tomato sauce
  • 1/2 cup pasta water
  • 1/2 cup bell pepper
  • couple bay leaves
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1/2 med. sweet onion
  • 8 oz mushrooms (a package)
  • 1.5tsp unsalted butter
  • 1/2 lb sopressata (sliced & Julianned or cubed)
  • 3/4 lb uncooked thin spagetti
  • 2 cups Italian cheese blend (or favorites)
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1 tbls oregano
  • 3 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp pepper
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 2 tsp sugar

Cooking Steps, Start the Sauce

  1. Smash and dice garlic
  2. Dice chop onion, pepper
  3. Food process or dice your tomatoes
  4. Heat deep saucepan over med-high heat
  5. Combine garlic, onion, pepper, 2 tsp salt, pepper, garlic powder in saucepan.
  6. Heat until soft, about 3m
  7. Add chicken stock, tomatoes, tomato sauce, and bay leaves
  8. Raise to a boil and simmer covered for 30m

Sautee Time

  1. Take your soporessata sauté/fry to a light/medium crisp, remove & set aside
  2. Chop mushrooms, add butter–sauté through sweating, add 1tsp salt & some pepper continue cooking to your liking
  3. Once first 30m is done with sauce add these to it for another 10-15m uncovered

Spagetti BakeCasserole Assembly

  1. Preheat oven to 350′
  2. Prepare spagetti according to package/your taste
  3. Take 1 cup pasta water, add to sauce
  4. It’s about layers; add sauce to baking dish, add noodles, add cheese
  5. Top layer should just be sauce
  6. Bake for 30m
  7. Grate/add parma to top, return to oven at broil for 5m

Andy Ciordia CookingRemove from the oven and let it sit 5-10m.  During which time you can make some garlic bread, tasty salad, or a side of choice.  Cut into portion squares and enjoy!

We got a healthy dinner, packaged 2 sizable portions, and are freezing a few portions for a quick meal in the future.