Pasta Pie

Yep, that's an entire pie...made of pasta! For New Years Eve, we were invited to a pie party and I decided to make a savory pie for the occassion. It's actually quite easy until you get to the stuffing the shells part. Stuffing each indivdual shell took some practice, but the longer I stuffed, the better I got. It was totally worth the effort being as it was delicious and made for an impressive presentation. If I could only have a big slice of pasta pie tonight....


Pasta Pie
Courtesy of Noble Pig


Ingredients:
1 pound rigatoni

2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 pound ground beef
2 garlic cloves, crushed

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 can (28 ounces) good quality crushed tomatoes

Butter, for pan

Salt

1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

8 ounces coarsely grated mozzarella

Directions:

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta until slightly underdone (I cooked mine for 12 minutes when the box indicated 14 minutes). One pound of pasta should be cooked in 6 quarts of water, make sure you are using a big enough pot so the pasta doesn't stick together. When done, rinse in cold water and drain again. Toss pasta with 1 Tablespoon olive oil to coat. Set aside.

Heat remaining 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground beef. Cook, stirring occasionally until browned. Add garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper. Cook 2 minutes more.

Add crushed tomatoes; simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes.

Toss pasta with Parmesan cheese. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Tightly pack pasta into pan, standing each piece on end. It should look like this:

Spread meat sauce on top of pasta.

Push the meat sauce into the pasta holes filling each one up.
Place in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and bake another 10-15 minutes until cheese is golden. Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge to loosen and then unmold.

Cut into wedges and serve with any remaining meat sauce you might have.