This is probably my dad’s favorite recipe of all time, as it is quite simple yet so tasty! It’s an incredibly fast meal, and you can skip the oven, so it will be ready in just twenty minutes (basically the time you need to cook the pasta). However, I’m not going to lie, the crispiness that only the “pasta al forno” Italian style is able to give is on another level.
Ingredients for 3 Servings
- 1 and 1/2 cups canned peas (1 for the cream, 1/2 for the pan) 240g
- 2 medium sausages
- Half a golden onion
- 280g pasta (or, more likely, the amount and weight you would eat, pasta servings are deeply personal!)
- 1 and 1/2 cups of grated Parmesan cheese (almost 90g)
- 1 cup smoked mozzarella (or traditional mozzarella) (100g)
- Black pepper to taste
Instructions
The whole process is really fast, so first of all, take a big pot and boil the water. The pot must be big enough, as we are going to need starchy pasta water for the cream.
Now let’s start with the filling. Slice a golden onion and brown it with the crumbled sausages and 1/2 cup of the peas (from the total, not added). We are not going to add EVO oil in this recipe, as the sausages are going to release all the fat, which will be perfect for browning the onion too (consistency and appearance should be like the picture). It will take just 5 to a maximum of 10 minutes, depending on how big you crumbled the sausages. Turn off the stove when it reaches the brown point. Add salt and black pepper to taste.
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Now let’s put 1 cup of canned peas, 1 cup of Parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of boiling water in a mixer and blend it evenly (check the photo to understand the creaminess we are going for). Add a pinch of salt and black pepper too. Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) in fan-assisted mode.
As soon as the water is boiling, add coarse salt (or the salt you usually use) and cook the pasta. We want it undercooked (“al dente”!), so boil the pasta you’ve chosen for only half of the pack instructions. When the pasta is cooked, DON’T drain it! Add the pasta with a skimmer to the pan with the stove still off, so we can understand how much water we need for the cream and we can keep checking the consistency.
Mix everything in the pan with the smoked mozzarella chopped (or regular mozzarella works fine too, if you can’t find the smoked one. It is important that it is drained, so it won’t make the pasta mushy). You are aiming for the consistency you see in the picture, so creamy yet not too liquid.
Take a casserole, put everything inside evenly, and cover the surface with the 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese you have left. You can choose how you prefer it. If you want it more crispy, I suggest a big casserole so the layer is going to be thin and the surface bigger. Instead, if you prefer it creamier inside, take a smaller yet higher casserole, so it is going to be crispy outside but creamy inside.
Tips and Tricks
- Depending on which ingredients you bought, check carefully for salt. Italian sausages and cheese are pretty salty, so if you choose that one you might not need salt at all. However, American and Canadian ones are not the same, so check the salt at every step of the recipe before adding it.
- Steps 3 and 4 are likely happening together, so you will have both boiling water for the cream and the cream ready for when the pasta is ready. Considering you will have to blend just for a couple of minutes, you can easily do that!
Wait until it is perfectly crispy and enjoy!
Baked Pasta with Crumbled Sausage in a Pea and Parmesan Cream
Ingredients
Method
- Bring water to a boil in a large pot, ensuring it is big enough to reserve starchy pasta water for the cream later.
- Slice the golden onion and brown it in a pan with the crumbled sausages and 1/2 cup of the peas. Cook for 5 to 10 minutes until browned, then turn off the stove. Season with salt and black pepper to taste.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) fan-assisted mode. In a mixer, blend 1 cup of canned peas, 1 cup of Parmesan cheese, and 1 cup of boiling water until creamy. Add a pinch of salt and black pepper.
- Once the water is boiling, add coarse salt and cook the pasta for half the package instructions until ‘al dente’. Do not drain; use a skimmer to transfer the pasta directly to the pan with the sausage mixture (with the stove off).
- Mix the chopped, drained smoked mozzarella into the pan with the pasta and sausage mixture, along with the pea cream, until you reach a creamy consistency.
- Transfer the mixture evenly into a casserole dish and top with the remaining 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 25 minutes until perfectly crispy.