Anelletti alla palermitana

Baked pasta with a beef, pork and tomato Ragu
Anelletti alla Palermitana
From Rick Stein's Long Weekends

- 120 ml olive oil
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
- 2 carrots, finely chopped
- 1 stick celery, finely chopped
- 250 g minced beef (note 1)
- 150 g minced pork (note 1)
- 150 ml red wine (note 1)
- small handful fresh basil
- 450 ml tomato passata
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tsp salt
- 8 turns black peppermill
- 1 cup of frozen peas (note 2)
- 350 g anelletti (O-shaped pasta) or macaroni
- salt, for cooking
- 1 aubergine, cut into 1cm dice (note 3)
- 20 g butter, softened, for greasing
- 30 g dried white breadcrumbs
- 50 g pecorino cheese, grated

Heat 50ml of the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Fry the onion, garlic, carrot and celery for 10 minutes. Add the beef and pork and brown for 5-10 minutes. Add the red wine, reduce by half, then add the basil and tomato sauce and paste. Simmer for 30 minutes until you have a rich ragu. Season with the pepper and salt.

Boil the anelletti until three-quarters cooked, about 8 minutes, in plenty of salted water with a dash of olive oil (10ml). It should still retain a bit of bite, as it will continue to cook in the oven. Drain well and mix with the ragu.

In a frying pan over medium-high heat, warm the remaining 70ml olive oil and fry the aubergine dice for abotu 3-5 minutes until golden. Drain on kitchen paper and stir into the pasta and ragu.

Heat the oven to 190C.

Butter a 23cm springform cake tin and sprinkle the base and sides with half of the breadcrumbs and pecorino. Spoon into the pasta. Finish with the remaining breadcrumbs mixed with pecorino. Press down firmly with the back of the wooden spoon. Bake for about 25-30 minutes until the top has taken on a bit of color and formed a crust. Serve warm with a side salad or, for a picnic, allow to cool in the tin and refrigerate. When cold, run a knife around the edge and remove the ring. Cut into wedges and serve with a salad.

Note 1: In the program, veal was used in place of beef and pork. Masala wine was used in place of red wine.
Note 2: In the program, a cup of peas was added to the finished ragu
Note 3: In the program, 5 slices of aubergine were cooked and lay at the bottom of the springform tin to create a floral pattern before spooning in the pasta. After spooning in half of the pasta, slices of provolone cheeses were added before adding the remaining pasta and finished with pecorino.