Julie Hodson

🍝 Mamma Mia, That’s a Cheesy Pasta! 🇮🇹

Have you heard of @sooshimango the Australian comedy trio known for their hilarious sketches about Italian-Australian family life? If you grew up in a European household, I suspect you’ll recognise a few of the family dynamics, the food obsession and the very familiar mamma knows best philosophy! 😂

I’m cooking three recipes from their book, EAT! Mamma Knows Best, for the #onebookthreerecipes collab, where a cookbook is chosen the first Tuesday of the month, and three recipes are made for the remaining three weeks of the month.

This book is inspired by the Italian cooking of the authors’ mamas and nonnas. It’s full of simple, wholesome, home-style Italian food.

My first recipe choice is Pasta al Forno (Oven-Baked Pasta), a dish I grew up eating, so I was curious to compare their version with my family’s recipe.

This one layers cooked rigatoni or penne with a good veal & pork ragu sauce and cheese in a baking dish. My family’s version also mixes béchamel sauce, with an egg added, through the pasta before layering it with the meat sauce. Kind of a pastitsio / pasta al forno hybrid! I think it takes the dish up a notch, but I’ll let you be the judge!

One golden rule, though: finish with a layer of pasta topped generously with cheese. That’s how you get those yummy, crispy, cheesy bits everyone fights over! 😋. This dish makes an appearance at many family gatherings and my grandmother’s version was always a part of our Christmas table - happy memories.

If you’d like to join this fun collab, contact our generous and lovliest hosts Gio, @whennonnocooks and Heather, @jolana_bar_and_grill.

Thanks for all the love 🩷🩷🩷
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#italianfood #pastarecipe #pastabakes #comfortfood,