rigatoni pie

this recipe came via my mother-in-law, via noble pig, via martha stewart. such a simple recipe with quite a wow factor. i really enjoyed making it - except standing the first dozen or so noodles up was a bit of a challenge.

• 1 pound rigatoni, salt for water
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
  
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 large can (28 oz) of crushed tomatoes
• 1 tbsp dried basil
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp white sugar
• salt to taste
• 1 cup fresh parmesan, grated
• enough mozzarella to cover, grated
  

brown the ground beef, add carrots, celery, onion and thyme. saute for a few minutes, add crushed garlic, continue to cook for another minute or two. add tomatoes and season to taste. let simmer on stove for as long as possible, i always leave it for at least an hour.

while the sauce is simmering, cook the rigatoni until just under el dante - you want it a little firmer than usual so the pasta holds up for the next few steps - the noodles will be finished off in the oven anyway. once you drain the pasta, return it to the pot and toss with the parm.

these noodles were probably overcooked by a minute or so - getting them just right is probably the hardest part of the recipe.

using a buttered, spring form pan, stand the noodles up - it really doesn't take that long. then scoop your sauce over the rigatoni, pushing the sauce down into the pasta. the back of a wooden spoon is just fine for this.

love it!

bake in the oven at 375 for 20 minutes, add the grated mozzarella to the top, and bake until golden - another 15 minutes or so. let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

the big moment - will it stand it's own? how about those oven mitts, eh?

it worked perfectly.

i apologize for the less than stellar presentation but i made the mistake of calling my guests to the table before i remembered that it should to rest for 10 minutes. so by the time i was willing to cut it, no one was willing to wait for me to plate it properly. oh well. it was awesome, anyway.

*the measurements for the seasonings are just a guess. if you don't want to eye ball it, those ratios should be just fine. and next time i'll probably add about half a cup of pasta water to the sauce right before i scoop it onto the rigatoni. i cooked my sauce to it's regular thickness, but found that after everything got baked together in the oven, the pasta left my sauce a little dry.