Spinach and Hot Ham Baked Pasta With a Crispy Top

rickoholic83's Note:

I saw this last night on 30 Minute Meals and had to post. I love Rachael's "Fast Fake-Baked Ziti" and this is similar but with extra, yummy stuff!

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 lb cavatappi pasta
• salt
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• black pepper
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups 2% low-fat milk
• 1/2 lb capicola, sliced into thin ribbons
• 1 (10 ounce) box frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
• 1 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese, grated and divided
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 lb fresh mozzarella ball, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler.
2. Place a large pot of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Add the pasta, salt the water and cook to al dente.
3. While the water is coming up to a boil for the pasta, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 T olive oil and the butter.
4. When butter melts into the oil, add onions and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes then dust the onions with flour and continue to cook for 1 minute.
5. Slowly whisk in milk.
6. Gently bring milk to a bubble, allow the milk to thicken a bit, then stir in the capicola, spinach and 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano. Season sauce with nutmeg and cayenne and remove from the heat.
7. Combine the cooked pasta and the cubed mozzarella with the sauce, stir to coat completely by turning over and over. Transfer dressed pasta to a baking dish.
8. To make the breadcrumb topping, combine the breadcrumbs, 2 T olive oil and the remaining 1/2 cup Parmigiano.
9. Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture over the top of the pasta to cover from edge to edge.
10. Place the baking dish under the broiler and broil until golden brown and crispy.
11. Garnish with chopped parsley.

Reviews

[kiwidutch]

5 Stars ! My Fanatical Pasta Cristic DH approves.. He said it was "nice and I like it" that's really pretty good going for someone who nutoriously stingy with compliments when it comes to pasta. I used spiral pastas becuase the range is reasonably limited here in NL and ham sold in packages of thin strips.. I used a bit more spinach because one of our (metric) sized boxes seems too small and two was a bit much but I didn't want to to be too sparce. I used more milk than stated, probably necessary due to the additional spinach, and I used half Gouda and half fresh block Parmigiano in both the mixture and the topping becuase DH says that all Parmigiano on every pasta dish gets a bit boring after a while. The addition of the mozzarella ball pieces was a nice touch and this was easy to make. Please see my rating system: 5 wonderful stars for a recipe that DH was not only happy to eat but also asked if we could have again sometime. I call THAT Success ! Thanks!