Not-Sagna Pasta Toss

Submitted by Smilyn

"Recipe from Rachael Ray's Express Lane Meals. So I took out all of her goofy language since it's a bit annoying to me. Her cooking, though, is great! Leave comments to let me know if you added or took out anything. This dish seems very versatile... convert to vegetarian or add sausage."

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 16
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• coarse salt
• black pepper
• 1 lb corkscrew macaroni (curly short)
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb ground sirloin
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chipped
• 1⁄2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1⁄2 cup dry red wine
• 1⁄2 cup beef stock
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 1 1⁄2 cups part-skim ricotta cheese
• 1⁄2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
• 1⁄2 cup fresh basil (appx. 10 leaves)

directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil for pasta.
2. Salt the water and cook pasta al dente.
3. Save a ladle of the starchy pasta water to form the sauce.
4. Heat a deep nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
5. Add oil, then add meat.
6. Brown meat and then add onions, garlic, and red pepper flakes.
7. Season with salt, pepper, Worcestershire and allspice.
8. Cook for another 5 minutes, then deglaze the meat mix with red wine.
9. Cook off for 1 minute and then stir the stock into the meat.
10. Stir in the tomatoes and bring it to a bubble.
11. Reduce heat to a simmer for 5 minutes.
12. Place the ricotta cheese in the bottom of a shallow bowl.
13. Add a ladleful of boiling, starchy pasta water to the ricotta and stir to combine them.
14. Add the parmesan cheese to the ricotta and mix it in .
15. Toss the hot pasta with cheese mix.
16. Add half of the meat sauce to the pasta mix.
17. Toss to combine.
18. Tear or shred basil and add it to the meat and pasta.
19. Add rest of meat sauce and toss to combine everything.
20. Serve with more parmesan cheese.

Reviews

[Dr. Carrie]

Easy to make and makes a LOT of food. I followed the recipe pretty exactly except that the crushed tomatoes I used seemed a bit more "diced" and less smushed, and I added some mozzarella cheese. Very tasty but it seemed to be missing a little something. Maybe next time I'll add more red pepper flakes and more worcestershire sauce. I wasn't blown away by the wine I used either, will try a different kind next time. I love Rachael Ray - Yumm-O! ;)

 

[atlfitgirl]

I love lasagna but not all the work that goes into making one...especially on a weeknight. This is the perfect solution. A free form lasagna of sorts... I also used campanelle pasta ( since that is what I had in the pantry) lean ground beef (90/10) about 10 garlic cloves (!!!!!) and almost a full tsp of red pepper flakes to really give it some spice. We don't drink red wine and I didn't want to buy a bottle just for this recipe, so I just substituted more of the beef stock ( homemade, of course). Topped it off with lots of freshly grated parmigiano and fresh torn basil from my garden. Served it with a simple green salad and Beauty Parlor garlic bread (recipe # #131648) Yummy and quick weeknight meal. Thanks!!!

 

[MPCook]

I love this recipe. I have been making this since I saw it on TV. I use Italian sausage instead of the sirloin. And I like the Campanelle noodles instead bc they are pretty. (a noodle is a noodle) I don't use the wine usually, just add a little extra beef stock. and I add 1 1/2 C. Shredded Mozzarella, just bc that is what is normally in my lasagna. Overall a very good recipe! Very versatile, as are most of RR's recipes.

 

[bricookie55]

This was great! I have to say, I was a little scared before I tried it, cuz it didn't look like anything special, but the taste more than made up for it! You said to leave comments, Smilyn, if we changed anything, so here goes: instead of beef, I used spicy italian turkey sausage, chicken stock in place of beef stock, some carrots and arugula that I had to use up, and I used fat free ricotta cheese. It was delicious! This is a versatile dish, too, so I will definitely be trying this again with other meats, or maybe no meat at all! Thanks!