Culinary Disasters

Happy Easter!  Hopefully some of you were lucky enough to catch the Easter bunny and can be dining on some rabbit pappardelle soon (which reminds me I still have another rabbit sitting in the freezer).  For me culinary wise comfort food sounded great for dinner thanks to the wonderful couple of inches of snow we managed to receive last night.  Welcome first week of spring.

Penne pasta for those who do not know is cylinder shaped pasta that is usually a couple inches long and is either smooth or has ridges.  Personally I like to buy the ridge kind.  Penne also works great just tossed with some tomato sauce or pesto and cheese for a simple and quick meal.

For this recipe you will need:

• 1 lb of ground veal
• 1/4 lb pancetta
• 1 onion medium dice
• 3 cloves of garlic fine dice
• 1 roasted red pepper medium dice
• 4 ounces of mushrooms sliced
• 2 cups of basic tomato sauce
• 2 TB of tomato paste
• 1/2 cup of red wine
• 1 cup mozzarella 
• 1 cup of fontina cheese
• 1/2 cup of parmigiano-reggiano cheese
• 1/2 lb of penne pasta cooked to al dente
• 2 TB of unsalted butter
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• pinch of crushed red pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

Cut the pancetta into small pieces and in a pan over medium cook till crispy.  Remove the pancetta and set aside.

Add in the ground veal and cook till cooked through.  Strain and set aside.

In a separate saucepan over medium melt the two TB of butter and add in the onion with a pinch of salt and pepper.  Cook till softened (about 5 minutes).

Add in the mushrooms and cook the mushrooms till they are softened (about 8 minutes).

Add in the garlic and cook for another minute.  Add in the wine and reduce by 1/2 (about 5 minutes).

Add in the tomato sauce, pinch of crushed red pepper, and tomato paste.  Cook the tomato mixture till heated through.

In a large oven safe pan mix the fontina, mozzarella, penne, roasted red pepper, sauce mixture, veal, and pancetta.

Top the mixture with the parmigiano-reggiano cheese.

Place the mixture into the oven and cook till bubbly (about 20-30 minutes).

Serve with some chopped parsley and more parmigiano-reggiano cheese.

Tags: Veal, All //