pasta 'ncasciata bianca
pasta 'ncasciata bianca
Andrea Camilleri’s creation, Inspector Montalbano, loved the Sicilian Pasta ‘Ncasciata, (ang-cashartah). This is my ‘white’ version - the original is based on a red meat ragù, and I strongly recommend you use ragù you’ve previously frozen, unless you hve a good 5 hours spare to cook this dish!
Unfortunately, ‘Ncasciata always looks like an accident in the kitchen - but it’s only when you try what looks like madness at first sight, that you truly appreciate the genius of this dish. A baked pasta with an extravagant and rich mix of flavours, you’re unlikely to have tasted anything quite like this before.
For me the eggs and fried ubergines seemed way too excessive, but, as I say, it’s really only when you’ve tasted every ingredient working together that it makes sense.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO
(scroll down for the full method)
WHAT YOU’LL NEED TO DO
• make the ragù
• fry the pangrattato
• boil the eggs
• fry the aubergines
• prep the other ingredients
• par-boil the pasta
• add the other ingredients
• bake
pasta 'ncasciata bianca
INGREDIENTS
FOR FIVE PEOPLE
• 500g (17.5oz) pork (mince/shoulder)
• 2 small carrots
• 2 onions
• garlic clove
• 1 large celery stick
• chicken stock
• nutmeg
• 100g (3.5oz) Napoli Salame
• 100g (3.5oz) Prosciutto Cotto
• 2 large handfuls caciocavallo cheese
• 1 large aubergine
• 5 hard-boiled eggs
• pangrattato
PASTA
400g (14oz) dry/fresh Rigatoni
(mine were fresh from Sainsbury’s)
MANTECATURA
none
METHOD
Cooking everything from scratch, begin by making a basic white pork ragù (p. XX) - you’ll need to allow at least 2 hours to do this, so you’ll have plenty of other time to prepare the other ingredients while it simmers! I used leftover roast pork to make this ragù, but you can just as easily use 5% fat pork mince or pork shoulder.
Cook the hard-boiled eggs and allow to cool. Next, cut the aubergines into approximately 25mm cubes and fry gently in EVO until they’re soft. You can allow them to get golden brown, but be careful not to burn them.
Cut the salame and prosciutto up into thin ribbons and chop the cheese into small cubes. If you can’t find caciocavallo cheese, mature English Cheddar could be a substitute. Similarly, almost any kind of cooked British ham could be swapped for the prosciutto. When I’ve made the original red version in the past, I’ve used mixes of prosciutto crudo, cotto, tuscan wild boar salame and mortadella too.
Chop the aubergine into 2cm cubes and fry in olive oil until golden - but not burnt! While the aubergine is cooking, make some pangrattato.
When the ragù is cooked, par-boil the pasta for half the packet cooking time. Drain it and combine with the ragù in a large mixing bowl, as if you were serving that dish. Add and mix in the prosciutto, salame, cheese, aubergines, and the sliced boiled eggs.
Spread a thin layer (8-10mm) of pangrattato on the bottom of a large oven dish (the type you might use for lasagne) and gently spoon the combined pasta into it. Top with a layer of pangrattato followed by a layer of grated pecorino and a drizzle of EVO. Bake in a hot oven for around 25-35 minutes. Serve immediately.
NUTRITION per serving
KCAL: 839
Fat (g): 40.2
Sat Fat (g): 13.5
Carb (g): 53.6
Sug (g): 8.9
Fibre(g): 7.7
Prot (g): 66.5
Salt (g): 5.93
Nutritional information is provided as an indication only of approximate values for the recipe on this page. You should make your own calculations if you have specific dietry requirements or are required to follow a strict calorie-controlled diet.
