Pasta al Forno

Name: Pasta al Forno (Macaroni in the Oven)
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: thyme; 2 bayleaves; 1 garlic clove; 1 few capers; 2 tablespoons grated parmesan; ½ kg (1 lb 2 oz) of twice-minced horse meat (or lean beef); salt; 1 dessertspoon of olive oil; 2 fresh eggs; 1 dessertspoon olive oil; 800 g (1¾ lb) of penne rigate or rigatoni (short-textured macaroni); 1 heap of very fine baked crumbs; 1 brandy glass of red wine; 200 g (7 oz) prosciutto crudo or coppa; 2 hard-boiled eggs; 1 mozzarella cheese; ½ litre (18 fl oz) concentrated chicken stock; ½ litre (18 fl oz) fresh tomato sauce, reduced; 2 tablespoons grated pecorino; chopped parsley; 1 soupspoon olive oil

Macaroni in the Oven

Preparation info

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Honey from a Weed

By Patience Gray

Published 1986

About

I give the Apulian version, which is far easier to make than to explain; something to prepare at early morning when the bread oven is being fired, but you can put it in a domestic oven. Its peculiarity is the presence of minute polpette, meat balls, dispersed in the pasta.

Ingredients

800 g (1¾ lb) of penne rigate or rigatoni (short-textured macaroni)
200 g</

Europe
Italy
Apulia
Sauce
Main course
Pasta
Mediterranean

Method

Boil a cauldron of water, salt it, and cook the penne so that they are not quite al dente (i e undercooked), strain in a colander and pass rapidly under the cold tap.

Then make the polpette. Pound the garlic, add the capers and some salt, pound again. Liberate with the oil and add to the minced meat in a bowl. Pound the mixture. Then work in the raw eggs. Sprinkle w