Mostaccioli

Mid-December in Tulsa. Brayden is sixty-three weeks old. The advance prep for Harper’s January 7 baby-shower is underway. The freezer is being filled with the dessert-table components that will travel down to Sapulpa January 6. The apartment kitchen has been the assembly-line of the week.

Mostaccioli is the Italian-American baked-pasta workhorse — tube pasta tossed with a meat-and-tomato sauce, layered with shredded mozzarella, baked in a casserole dish at three-seventy-five for thirty minutes. The dish is structurally similar to baked ziti (which uses the same pasta shape but with a slightly different sauce-to-pasta ratio). Mostaccioli is the Midwest-Italian variant. The dish freezes beautifully and reheats with no loss of quality.

The technique question is the sauce-to-pasta ratio. Too little sauce and the pasta dries out during the bake. Too much sauce and the casserole goes soupy. The right ratio is about two cups of sauce per pound of pasta. The mozzarella goes on the top only (not throughout the layers, which is the lasagna model). The bake is uncovered for the first twenty minutes (to set the cheese) and covered for the last ten (to keep the pasta moist).

Sunday I made a double casserole — one for Sunday dinner and the week, one for the freezer. The freezer one is allocated to one of the post-baby weeks when Aunt Linda will be in Tulsa with Harper and I might want to deliver dinner to Aunt Linda and Roy at the extended-stay apartment without having to fresh-cook on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

Mostaccioli

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 1 hour | Servings: 8

Ingredients

• 1 lb mostaccioli pasta (or penne)
• 1 lb ground beef or Italian sausage
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jar (24 oz) marinara or pasta sauce
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat & prep. Preheat your oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a 9x13-inch baking dish and set aside.
2. Cook the pasta. Boil the mostaccioli in salted water according to package directions until just al dente, about 8–9 minutes. Drain and set aside — do not overcook, as it will continue to bake in the oven.
3. Brown the meat. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef (or sausage) with the diced onion until the meat is no longer pink, about 6–8 minutes. Drain excess fat. Add the minced garlic and cook 1 minute more.
4. Build the sauce. Stir in the marinara sauce, diced tomatoes, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes if using. Let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, so the flavors come together.
5. Combine. Add the drained pasta to the skillet and stir well to coat every piece in sauce. Fold in 1 cup of the shredded mozzarella.
6. Assemble. Pour the pasta mixture into the prepared baking dish and spread into an even layer. Top evenly with the remaining 1 cup of mozzarella and all of the Parmesan.
7. Bake. Bake uncovered for 25–30 minutes, until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and lightly golden at the edges.
8. Rest & serve. Let the mostaccioli rest for 5 minutes before serving. Leftovers keep refrigerated for up to 4 days and reheat well, covered, at 350°F for 15 minutes or in the microwave.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 420 | Protein: 26g | Fat: 15g | Carbs: 45g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 680mg