Naunie's Pastera (Leftover Easter Pasta Bake)
Ever wonder what to do with the small amounts of leftover dry pasta that are in your cupboard? Once a year, at Easter, use them in this Italian baked pasta dish!
- Preparation:
- Cooking:
- Total:
- Serves: 2 persons
Ingredients
- 2½ tablespoons olive oil, divided
- ¼pound elbow macaroni
- ¼pound ziti pasta
- ¼pound farfalle (bow tie) pasta
- ¼pound radiatore pasta
- 1pound sweet Italian sausage links, cut into 1/2- inch slices
- 12jumbo eggs, or more if needed
- ½cup shredded Pecorino Romano cheese, or more if needed
- salt to taste
- ¼teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
- 2tablespoons olive oil, divided
Instructions
Step 1
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Grease a 2-quart and a 1 1/2-quart round glass baking dish each with 3/4 teaspoon olive oil; drizzle 1 tablespoon of remaining olive oil into bottom of each baking dish.Step 2
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook macaroni, ziti, farfalle, and radiatore pasta in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain.Step 3
Arrange sausage slices on foil-lined baking sheet.Step 4
Bake sausage in the preheated oven until browned and crisp, 30 to 45 minutes. Lower oven heat to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).Step 5
Beat eggs in a large bowl until foamy, using an electric mixer. Add Pecorino-Romano cheese, salt, and black pepper; continue to beat egg mixture with electric mixer on highest speed until eggs and cheese are blended, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir cooked pasta into eggs and cheese; mixture should be runny and look like pasta is floating in egg mixture. Stir additional beaten eggs and Pecorino-Romano cheese into mixture if more egg mixture is needed.Step 6
Ladle spoonfuls of egg-pasta mixture into each casserole, followed by a layer of sausage; continue layering pasta mixture and sausage until all sausage has been used. Top casseroles with final layer of pasta mixture. Drizzle top of each casserole with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Small pieces of pasta should stick out of the egg mixture.Step 7
Bake in the oven until casseroles are set in the center, about 1 hour; raise oven heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and continue baking until the tops of casseroles are browned and crispy, 1 to 1 1/2 more hours.