Anelletti al Forno with Eggplant

Anelletti al Forno with Eggplant

Anelletti al forno with eggplant is a classic sicilian baked pasta is made with meat ragu with peas, eggplant, hard boiled eggs and anelletti, a small ring shaped pasta of Sicilian origin. This impressive pasta dish is prepared on special occasions or for Sunday lunches with family.

Course Main Course

Cuisine Sicilian-Italian

Keyword anelletti al forno, anelletti timballo with eggplant, baked anelletti with eggplant

Prep Time 3 30

Cook Time 30

Resting time 30

Total Time 4 30

Servings servings

Calories 553kcal

Author Nadia Fazio

Ingredients

For the meat ragu with peas

1 small onion finely diced
1 carrot diced
1 stalk celery diced
3 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic finely minced
pinch red pepper flakes optional
500 grams ground meat trio veal, beef and pork combined
¼ cup red wine
2 bay leaves
796 ml tomato passata (tomato purée)
2 cups water or chicken broth
1 ½ cups frozen peas
salt and pepper to taste

For the eggplant

3 medium eggplants
½-¾ cup olive oil
salt to taste

For assembling the dish

450 grams anelletti pasta (can be substituted with rigatoni or penne)
½ plus 2 tbsp. cup Parmigiano cheese divided
3 hard boiled eggs thinly sliced
250 grams caciocavallo cheese cut into cubes
4 tbsp. unseasoned breadcrumbs divided

Instructions

Prepare the meat ragu with peas

Heat olive oil in a large skillet or sauce pan and sauté a finely diced onion, carrot, celery stalk and a pinch of salt until golden, about 10 minutes. Stir in 2 minced garlic cloves and red pepper flakes (optional) and cook for 1 minute.
Add the ground meat trio (beef, veal and pork) and cook, stirring and breaking up the pieces with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, about 5 minutes.
Deglaze the pan with red wine and cook until it evaporates. Pour in 1 jar of tomato passata. Then pour 2 cups of water or chicken stock in the bottle, swirl it around to gather up all the remaining sauce and pour back into the pan. Add bay leaves, salt and pepper, to taste.
Bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook partially covered for 1 hour. Stir in green peas and cook for an additional 15 minutes. Adjust seasoning if needed.

Cook the eggplant

Trim the ends of the eggplant. Slice into approximately 1/4 inch slices.
Layer the slices in a large bowl adding salt to each layer of eggplants. Cover with water, place a large plate over the bowl and weigh it down with a heavy object, such as a package of salt or sugar. Let sit for 30 minutes. Drain and rinse the eggplant slices and pat dry.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F and grease 2 baking sheets generously with olive oil (about 2 tbsp).
Place the eggplant slices on the baking sheets without overlapping them. Brush the tops with olive oil (about 2 more tbsp.) and sprinkle lightly with salt.
Bake for 20-25 minutes (flipping them halfway) until soft and golden brown. If the slices are dry, brush with additional olive oil as needed.

Prepare the remaining ingredients

Hard boil 3 eggs, let cool then slice into rounds.
Cut caciocavallo cheese into small cubes.
Cook anelletti pasta 3-4 minutes less than suggested on the package. Drain and place in a bowl. Stir in one or two spoonfuls of olive oil to prevent the pasta from sticking.

Assemble the dish

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Prepare a 10 inch (24 cm) spring form pan by coating it with olive oil. Coat the bottom and sides with a layer of breadcrumbs (2 tbsp.). Place the pan on a baking sheet. Some of the liquid may leak out from the bottom of the pan during baking.
Cover the bottom and sides of the pan with overlapping eggplant slices. Let the slices hang over the sides of the pan.
Reserve about 1 cup of meat ragu and stir the rest into the pasta. Stir in the cubed caciocavallo cheese adn 1/2 cup of grated Parmigiano cheese.
Pour half the pasta with sauce into the eggplant covered spring form pan. Cover with hard boiled egg slices. Add the remaining pasta and top with the reserved sauce. Press down lightly on the pasta. Sprinkle 2 tbsp. Parmigiano cheese on top.
Cover the top of the pasta with the slices of eggplant hanging over the sides of the pan. Top with additional eggplant slices to completely cover the pasta. Sprinkle the top with the remaining breadcrumbs.
Bake for 30 minutes. Let the baked anelletti sit for about 30 minutes before removing the sides of the pan. Do not skip this step or it may fall apart when you attempt to slice it!
Sice into wedges and serve hot.

Notes

Substitutions and Variations:

-For a vegetarian version of this dish, simply omit the ground meat in the tomato sauce.

-If you are not a fan of peas (definitely a Sicilian thing!), simply omit them.
-Cubed prosciutto cotto pieces may be stirred into the pasta with sauce.
-Replace the caciocavallo cheese with mild provolone or mozzarella.
-For an easier version of this dish which resembles my Sicilian pasta al forno recipe, cut the eggplant into cubes and bake until golden. Stir the eggplant into the pasta with meat sauce mixture and bake either in a spring form pan or other casserole dish.

Which other varieties of pasta may be used in place of anelletti?

If you do not have access to anelletti simply replace with rigatoni or penne.

How long do leftovers keep for?

-Keep leftovers refrigerated for up to 3 days. Reheat in a 350 degrees F preheated oven until warmed through.

Please note that the nutritional information provided is approximate and may vary according to exact ingredients used and portion size.

Nutrition