Thanksgiving recipe - Baked Gigli with Four Cheeses and Ten-Minute Tomato Sauce
Here’s something we can all agree on—Thanksgiving is a grand time for feasting and welcoming cozy winter. If we were in Italy for the holiday, we would be roasting chestnuts in the fireplace, sorting through baskets of wild mushrooms for flans, and looking forward to a dinner starring quail or guinea hen. Since turkeys in Tuscany tend to run huge—over twenty-five pounds—they are just too much for our ovens.
We’re not that fond of turkey anyway but could not see any Thanksgiving without the roasted pecans, mashed potatoes, cream gravy, corn meal stuffing, tarragon green beans, rolls, pecan pie, and good Syrah wines from Cortona. Of course, Thanksgiving in Italy is only celebrated by the Americans who never forget their national holidays. Somehow in a foreign country, one’s holidays (especially 4 July) seem even more meaningful.
Here in North Carolina, we will be celebrating with Frances’s relatives from Atlanta and our local family, including grandson Will, who graduated from NYU Shanghai in May and is super busy applying to law schools and graduate programs. What a gift to have him back home! We’ll all be together for a few days so preparations have already begun for various lunches, a picnic by the Eno River, and the big day. One recipe we will surely be making is the so-easy “Pasta with Four Cheeses” and “Quick Tomato Sauce” from our Pasta Veloce cookbook.
Baked Gigli with Four Cheeses and Ten-Minute Tomato Sauce
Serves 4-6
A subtler and more complex mac and cheese, this baked pasta is scrumptious on its own, but really sings with a drizzle of intense Ten-Minute Tomato Sauce. Use traditional elbow macaroni, if you like, instead of the gigli. This is a pasta dish that does well prepared in advance and baked off shortly before serving, if that’s more convenient. Italian provolone has a more pronounced flavor than the domestic.
8 ounces (225 g) gigli
3½ ounces (135 g) imported or aged provolone, coarsely grated (about 1½ cups)
1 cup (8 ounces/250 g) whole-milk ricotta
½ cup (50 g) grated Parmigiano Reggiano
¾ teaspoon coarse salt
½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
6 ounces (170 g) fresh mozzarella, diced (about 1½ cups)
½ cup (15 g) lightly packed flat-leaf parsley
½ medium shallot, sliced
⅔ cup (80 g) panko
¼ teaspoon crushed hot red pepper
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Bake until heated through, 7 to 8 minutes. Turn the heat to broil and broil for about 2 minutes, until the pasta is bubbling and the crumb topping is browned. Serve as is, or with a drizzle of tomato sauce, if desired.
Ten-Minute Tomato Sauce
Makes about 1¾ cups (420 ml)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
½ teaspoon crushed hot red pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
Pinch sugar
⅓ cup (80 ml) dry white wine
1 teaspoon dried marjoram, or ½ teaspoon dried oregano and ½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon coarse salt, plus more to taste
1½ cups (about 14 ounces/410 ml) canned chopped tomatoes with their juices
2 tablespoons slivered fresh basil
In a large deep skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and sauté over medium-high heat for about 1 minute, until fragrant, without letting it brown. Add the hot pepper and sauté for 30 seconds longer. Add the tomato paste and sugar and cook, stirring, until it darkens, about 2 minutes.
Pour in the white wine and add the marjoram and salt. Boil over high heat for 1 minute to reduce. Add the tomatoes, reduce the heat to medium, and cook the sauce at a slow boil—it will splatter; partially cover, if necessary—for 5 to 7 minutes, to develop the flavors. Stir in about ½ cup (120 ml) water to adjust the thickness. Add the basil and season with additional salt to taste.
Excerpts From Pasta Veloce, Frances Mayes, Susan Wyler & Steven Rothfield
Another standby is the universal pleaser, Pasta al Ragù. I’ve made a triple batch and divided the ragù into small containers to pull out of the freezer as needed. It’s from our The Tuscan Sun Cookbook: “Giusi’s Ragù” (p. 147).
