NAUNIE'S PASTERA (LEFTOVER EASTER PASTA BAKE)

Naunie's Pastera (Leftover Easter Pasta Bake) image

Ever wonder what to do with the small amounts of leftover dry pasta that are in your cupboard? Once a year, at Easter, use them in this Italian baked pasta dish!

Provided by AllieGeekPi

Categories World Cuisine Recipes European Italian

Time 3h10m

Yield 24

Number Of Ingredients 11

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Ingredients

2 ½ tablespoons olive oil, divided
¼ pound elbow macaroni
¼ pound ziti pasta
¼ pound farfalle (bow tie) pasta
¼ pound radiatore pasta
1 pound sweet Italian sausage links, cut into 1/2- inch slices
12 jumbo eggs, or more if needed
½ cup shredded Pecorino Romano cheese, or more if needed
salt to taste
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, or more to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

Steps:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil. Grease a 2-quart and a 1 1/2-quart round glass baking dish each with 3/4 teaspoon olive oil; drizzle 1 tablespoon of remaining olive oil into bottom of each baking dish.
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook macaroni, ziti, farfalle, and radiatore pasta in the boiling water, stirring occasionally until cooked through but firm to the bite, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain.
Arrange sausage slices on foil-lined baking sheet.
Bake sausage in the preheated oven until browned and crisp, 30 to 45 minutes. Lower oven heat to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
Beat eggs in a large bowl until foamy, using an electric mixer. Add Pecorino-Romano cheese, salt, and black pepper; continue to beat egg mixture with electric mixer on highest speed until eggs and cheese are blended, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir cooked pasta into eggs and cheese; mixture should be runny and look like pasta is floating in egg mixture. Stir additional beaten eggs and Pecorino-Romano cheese into mixture if more egg mixture is needed.
Ladle spoonfuls of egg-pasta mixture into each casserole, followed by a layer of sausage; continue layering pasta mixture and sausage until all sausage has been used. Top casseroles with final layer of pasta mixture. Drizzle top of each casserole with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Small pieces of pasta should stick out of the egg mixture.
Bake in the oven until casseroles are set in the center, about 1 hour; raise oven heat to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and continue baking until the tops of casseroles are browned and crispy, 1 to 1 1/2 more hours.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 192.4 calories, Carbohydrate 14.9 g, Cholesterol 130.9 mg, Fat 10.4 g, Fiber 0.6 g, Protein 9.9 g, SaturatedFat 3.1 g, Sodium 233.8 mg, Sugar 0.9 g