In Italy, whenever you bake a pasta that is not a specifically designed to be baked (like lasagne and cannelloni) you get a delicious pasticcio... mess!
This recipe can actually end up as one of two dishes. Once the pasta is finished pressure cooking, you can serve it as-is and enjoy simple "Pasta al Ragu", pasta in meat sauce... or, pour the contents into a casserole, layer it with mozzarella and stick it under the grill for a few minutes to melt and you have pasta pasticciata.
Mezzemaniche Pasticciate - "Baked" Half-sleeve Mess!
10-16 oz. or 300-500g of Ground Beef (I used 300g in the photographed recipe, but you can add more meat if you prefer) 1 Med. Onion, finely chopped 1 Med. Carrot, finely chopped 1 Med. Celery Stalk, finely chopped 1 swig Red Wine (whatever you're having with dinner) 14.5 oz can, 2 cups or 450g of Tomato puree 14 oz. or 375g Mozzerella, diced or shredded Butter to taste 2.5 tsp. Salt Freshly Ground Balack Pepper Oven-safe casserole dish In the pre-heated pressure cooker, on medium heat without the top, add a couple of tablespoons of butter and soften the chopped onion, carrot and celery (about 5 minutes). Then, turn up the heat to high and add the ground meat, 1/2 tsp of salt and ground pepper. Break it up carefully and brown it on all sides, the meat should be almost fully cooked (about 10 minutes). When all of the water has evaporated from the meat and it is sizzling and golden add a swig of red wine - just enough to wet and de-glaze the pan. Wait for it to evaporate fully (about 1 minute) before continuing with the recipe. Pour in the pasta, tomato puree, another 2 tsp.salt and enough water to cover the pasta. Give it a good stir and flatten it as much as possible (to use as little water as possible). Set the pan to cook on LOW pressure. Turn the heat up to high and when the pan has reached LOW pressure, lower the heat and count 5 minutes (or the recommended time). When time is up, open the pressure cooker using the cold-water quick-release method - take your pressure cooker to the sink and carefully run water over the top ensuring not to cover any of the valves. For Electric Pressure Cookers: Open using the Normal Method - turn the valve or button to release pressure. Since Electric Pressure cookers differ in their time to pressure, cooking pressure, and require a Normal release (which can take up to two minutes) you may need to shave off an additional minute or two from the pressure cooking time to achieve al dente results. Give the contents a stir and let the pasta sit for about a minute - if you serve it now you have pasta with meat sauce- or continue with the recipe... Pour out half the contents of the pressure cooker into the oiled casserole. Then, sprinkle half the cheese on top. Pour out the rest of the contents on top of that and sprinkle the rest of the cheese, dot with pats of butter to taste. Place casserole under grill for 3-5 minutes, until all the cheese has melted and is just starting to be tinged with gold. Let the casserole rest for about 5 minutes while the cheese cools a little and hardens into a crunchy top. Serves 6-8.  |
This recipe is part of the Better Pressure Cooker Pasta recipe series!
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Oh. Wow! Going to make this on the weekend, no one will believe I pressure cooked it. The flavor has g.o.t. to be fantastic as it looks!
ReplyDeleteThis was such a favourite of mine when I was a child - and still is, actually, when I really need a treat. My favourite version includes a few fried aubergines thrown in the mix.
ReplyDeleteLooks great! I use pressure cooker quite a bit but I never tried to make pasta.... sounds like a great way for it to absorb all flavors!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a keeper for me. I will be doing this ASAP.
ReplyDeleteSandra, Anna... come back to let us know how you liked it!
ReplyDeleteCiao,
L
Cafettiera Rosa... sounds delicious! Thanks for sharing your variation of pasticcio di pasta!
ReplyDeletePaola, you've got it. Pressure cooked pasta reaches maximum flavorage!!
Ciao,
L
I've got to try it to believe it. That looks really yum yum!
ReplyDeleteinteresting web site
ReplyDeleteThis dish was absolutely YUMMY! I live with two very picky eaters and both devoured and complimented this. It was sooo flavorful and the pasta was cooked perfectly. I substituted ground turkey for the beef and used whole wheat pasta. I also used olive oil instead of butter in the beginning and omitted the butter when adding the cheese. It turned out perfectly and I don't feel that the changes took away from the original recipe. I will make this recipe again and AGAIN!!! Thanks!!!
ReplyDeleteKimberly, what a great set of modifications. I'm so glad that your whole family liked it!
ReplyDeleteCiao,
L
I made this for dinner with friends (one of whom is from an Italian family), and it went over wonderfully. A few commented that the use of fresh mozzarella was what really made it special.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the recipe!
So glad to hear it was a hit!
DeleteCiao,
L
I have tried this twice and both times I end up with a blackernd pressure cooker bottom.
ReplyDeleteCan you tell me what kind of pressure cooker (model, size, manufacturer) you are using?
DeleteTaking a stab at what might have gone wrong.. is that your pressure cooker has a higher minimum liquid requirement than one cup of water.
Please leave more details so we can get you perfectly pressure cooked pasta!
Ciao,
L
Hi, Thanks for the reply. I have a Fissler vitaquick 4.5l on an electric hob. Thinking about it, it basically has run out of water because it took a while to reach presure because I kept the temp lower than last time in case that was the reason for the bottom being burned. The water was more than the min mark on the cooker, but maybe I need to put in a lot more? with a higher temp?
DeleteI have a Vitaquick, but I could never get it to work correctly after 6 weeks of testing (two samples 3 weeks each). Even so, the base is pretty thick and it takes alot work to scorch things - so something went really wrong.
DeleteDid you halve the recipe or make a pound of pasta with it? Did you scrape the meat off the bottom when you added the wine? Also, low pressure does not mean lower heat, you should still have high heat but move the pan to a cooler heating element when the first ring comes out of the pressure signal - longer time to pressure with lower heat means more time for things to scorch at the bottom before they come to a boil. So you definitely want to blast the heat at the beginning and then find just the right heat to maintain pressure during pressure cooking - and not have the valve go into over-pressure and emit steam while the ring is showing in the pressure signal - it's ok for a little to come out while the cooker is reaching pressure.
Ciao,
L
Hi, I used about 300g of beef and about 250g of pasta. I did bring it to the boil with the lid off first as well. I will try it again next week with a bit more water and bit less beef and see how I get on. Thanks for your assistance.
DeleteOk, tried it again this week with a lot more water and success. No burned pot this week and it turned out very nice.
DeleteI recently discovered your blog, and I love it! Thank you for all the wonderful recipes. I made this for dinner tonight with whole wheat noodles, and my family loved it. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteLoved the original recipe, tonight I came up with a Southwestern variation which was also good.
ReplyDeleteSub: Chorizo for the ground beef.
Sub Onion, Bell Pepper, Garlic and Jalapeno for the Mirepoix.
Sub Tequila for the Red Wine.
Sub Cheddar cheese
Add 1/2 T Cumin.