Spicy baked pasta has got the best parts of baked pasta: impressive cheese pulls and carby-saucy goodness, but just as importantly it has spicy kick, bursting flavor, and crispy gooey cheese puddles and pockets. It’s the perfect meal for hungry teenagers, marathoners, or just your weeknight crew. It does take a few minutes to come together, but if you use canned sauce, then there’s little thinking involved.
This dish is not “Fancy Pasta” but it is definitely “Event Pasta”. The smells coming from the oven will bring everyone to the table and it always gets a chorus of “ooos” and “aaas” when it comes out of the oven. Spicy Baked pasta is like baked ziti, but also, it’s NOT baked ziti. I am picky about my baked pasta, I fined joy in perky noodles, exciting sauces, and cheese caps that have texture (and don’t taste like a layer of too hot chewy cardboard). So, I came up with this recipe, and not only is it so good that I fantasize about it whenever I’m eating potluck baked ziti, it’s so good that Henry said I should name it after him.
Notes
Note about Cooking Time and Liquid
The amount of water depends a bit on how long your pasta takes to cook. If you’re using elbows that take 5-7 minutes to cook, it needs 1.5 cups of water. But if you’re using penne that takes 8-11 minutes to cook, you’ll need just under 2 cups. And finally, if you’re using a pasta that takes more than 11 minutes, you’ll need just over 2 cups water. And just as you’ll add more water for slower cooking pasta, you’ll also want to increase cooking time. A pasta that takes 5 minutes should be done baking in about 18 minutes. A pasta that takes 12 minutes to cook will need the full 24 minutes. My favorite pasta for this is De Cecco Shell (#50).
Note about Pan Size
I have a 13” (5 quart) braiser pan that allows me to go from stove top to oven. (it was an anniversary present and I love it so much). If you don’t have an equivalent sized pan, you’ll need a large pot to cook this dish on the stove top, and then you’ll transfer the pasta and sauce to a 9×13 inch pan before adding the cheese and finishing this dish in the oven. I would not use a Dutch oven for Henry’s Spicy Baked Pasta because it will not allow for optimal cheese-toasting opportunities.
Note about Removing Sausage from Casing
This one girls opinion, but do not squish sausage out of its casing like you’re squeezing toothpaste out of a bottle. This method gives you compressed/hard sausage. Instead, split the casing with a knife or cut with scissors, remove sausage from casing, and then place in a pan.
Key Ingredients
dried pasta
Italian sausage (pork or vegan)
canned spicy tomato sauce
canned tomato puree
shallot
garlic
fresh mozzarella
Spicy Baked Pasta – Recipe
Time: about 50 minutes. Ideally, use a large brasier (or see note above). Serves 6. Henry says, “serves 5 after lacrosse practice.”
Ingredients
- 1lbs medium sized shell pasta or similar
- 1.25lbs mild or spicy Italian sausage
- 1 teaspoon crushed fennel seeds (optional)
- 1 large shallot (or small onion)
- 3 cloves of garlic
- ½ cup of chicken stock or ¼ cup of dry white wine
- 24 ounces spicy pasta sauce. I like Carbone Spicy Vodka for this
- optional 1 teaspoon minced Calabrian peppers in oil (for those who like it extra spicy)
- 1 can tomato puree (24-26oz)
- 1-2 cups of water
- 1 pound fresh mozzarella cut into 1-2 inch cubes
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
- Roughly 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
- Salt and pepper to taste.
Step One
Preheat oven to 425 (400 convection). Heat the pan you will be cooking in over medium high, add about 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pan. Once oil is glistening, add your favorite loose sausage, or sausage removed from casing (see note above). Fry the sausage so that it has nice crispy bits on the outside about 3-5 minutes total. You don’t need to cook your sausage through. Turn the heat off, remove sausage from the pan. Leave all of the oil in the pan and add crushed fennel seeds and minced shallot, turn the heat back on to low. Cook about 4 minutes, then add garlic (and optional Calabrian minced peppers) cook for another 1 minute. Next, add chicken stock or white wine to deglaze the pan.
Step Two
Add spicy pasta sauce and can of tomatoes. Bring temperature under pan back to medium and allow to come to a simmer. While the sauce heats, crumble the sausage into small bits, then add it, and any accumulated juices into the sauce. Once sauce with sausage comes to a simmer, reduce temperature to medium-low and simmer stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes to allow the flavors to settle and meld. (this is when I chop up the cheese and parsley). Chop the mozzarella into roughly 1 inch pieces, shred or grate about 1/2 cup of Parmesan and chop about 1/3 cup of parsley.
Step Three
Fold in the pasta and extra water. See note above about how much water to add. Allow sauce and pasta to return to a simmer, then cook the sauce on the stove top for 2 minutes. Turn off heat under the pot and then fold in about 1/3 of the mozzarella and ½ of the parsley. Sprinkle the rest of the mozzarella and all of the Parmesan evenly across the top. Bake in the oven about 20-24 minutes until the sauce is bubbling and the pasta is cooked through. If cheese has not yet formed a crisp cap by the end of the baking tie, broil for a minute or two (watch it carefully so it doesn’t burn). Remove from the oven.
Let sit 5 minutes, then sprinkle with the remaining parsley and serve! Keeps well in the fridge and reheats well for lunch the next day.