Recipe: Capellini al Forno

So, I made another recipe later in the week from Giada herself that was absolutely amazing and a must eat!  It is Capellini al Forno and it is quite the extreme pasta dish if I must say so myself.  As soon as I saw the picture and name of it at the beginning of the episode, I had the recipe saved on my phone. It is basically a pasta pie/casserole none like I have ever made or seen before in my life.  First you have a layer of jam, then meat sauteed with peas and onions....Oh wait, wrong show.

Angel hair pasta, prosciutto, mozzarella, and bread crumbs.  Those are the layers.  Amazing huh?  I thought so anyway.  Now if you are thinking to yourself, what the heck is prosciutto?  Well you are not alone. I had no clue what it was until I started watching her show.  It is a very very thinly sliced (so thin you can see through it) meat that has a peppery taste to it.

Now the recipe calls for 1 lb of prosciutto.  We thought our best shot at getting this meaty delicacy would be an Italian bakery in the Old Market called Orsi's but we ended up finding it at Hy-Vee.  We just needed a pound, so if it costs a bit more than your standard deli meat, we can splurge as the rest of the dish is very cheap, right?  WRONG.  Three ounces....let me say that again- THREE OUNCES of prosciutto cost $7.00. Are you freaking kidding me?  Well this might throw the whole plan out.  We are looking at almost $40 worth of prosciutto if we wanted to do this recipe right.  Well now all of a sudden Scott is ok with changing the recipe.  What if we just buy the 3 oz and see what happens.  Sounds good to me!  We will still get the lovely taste of the prosciutto in the dish without having to explain to our three month old that he needs to go in the big boy potty because Mommy and Daddy can no longer afford to buy diapers.

That said, I made the dish with the little amount we did have and it was fantastic!  You can even see the layer of prosciutto in the picture, so I don't think it was absorbed by the rest of the pasta.  All of they layers look fantastic and compliment one another so well.  So delicious. I think a whole pound would have made it kinda....ewwy.  I liked the added taste of it, but any more would have been a bit much.  This recipe is so easy and actually pretty fun to make.  Even Nolan had fun watching me make it!  Try it out!

Couple things to note: I looked online for substitutes for prosciutto and one thing that came up was ham.  So you could try it out with ham or honestly, any thinly sliced meat of your choice or no meat at all.  I think it would taste good either way!  Also, the original recipe calls for smoked mozzarella- we just bought the regular mozzarella as it is hard to find the smoked and the plain is much cheaper!  In addition, in the episode, Giada's aunt said that their family recipe calls for the regular mozzarella but Giada thought the smoked would be good for the dish.  So, we will stick to the original! ;)

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, diced, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing pan
• 1 pound capellini (angel hair) pasta
• 1 cup plus 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 3 eggs, at room temperature, beaten
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 1 pound prosciutto, sliced 1/8-inch thick and coarsely chopped
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded smoked mozzarella
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 (25-ounce) jar marinara or tomato-basil sauce, warmed

Directions

Place an oven rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottom and sides of a 9-inch diameter nonstick spring form pan. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, 4 to 5 minutes.  Drain well and place in a large bowl. Add 4 tablespoons butter, 1 cup Parmesan, eggs, parsley, salt and pepper. Toss well until coated.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup breadcrumbs in the bottom of the prepared pan. Spread 1/3 of the seasoned pasta on top. Arrange half of the prosciutto in a single layer on top. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella on top. Add 1/3 of the pasta and push down lightly to form an even layer. Repeat the layers with 1/4 cup breadcrumbs, the remaining pasta, prosciutto, and mozzarella. In a small bowl, mix the remaining 1/2 cup breadcrumbs and Parmesan together. Sprinkle over the layers and dot with the remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Drizzle with olive oil and bake until light golden on top, 45 to 50 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes.

Remove the sides of the pan and cut the pasta into wedges. Serve with warm marinara sauce.

You can find the original recipe here: Food Network