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close up of baked tortiglioni with cacciatore calabrese salami nduja meatballs and provolone

Baked Tortiglioni

A rich and crazy delicious pasta bake of tortiglioni, layered with tomato sauce, meatballs, nduja, cacciatore, egg, and cheese. Pure love in a lasagne dish.
Prep Time: 1 hour
Cook Time: 2 hours
Resting Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: Beef, Cheese, Meatballs, nduja, Pasta, pasta bake, pasta sauce, Pork, salami, Sauce, Tomato, tortiglioni, veal
Servings: 6
Calories: 884kcal

Equipment

  • Air tight container for resting
  • Wooden dowel, 14mm diameter
  • Ridged gnocchi board
  • Enamelled cast iron pot (or large regular pot)
  • 20x30cm lasagne dish
  • Pasta roller and cutter (if not using a rolling pin and knife)

Ingredients

Pasta

  • 225 g 00 flour
  • 75 g durum semolina flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 eggs
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Meatballs

  • 250 g veal mince
  • 250 g pork mince
  • 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
  • 1/4 cup parmesan
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 tsp ground sage
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp hot paprika
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Sauce

  • 6-8 cloves garlic
  • 1 onion
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • handful basil
  • small handful sage
  • 1/2 tbsp fennel seeds
  • 800 ml passata
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • salt and pepper to season
  • 4 eggs
  • 100 g nduja
  • 100 g cacciatore Calabrese
  • 200 g provolone cheese
  • 35 g romano cheese

Instructions

Pasta

  • Combine the 00 and durum semolina flours, and the salt, and form into a well. Add the eggs, egg yolks, and oil into the centre, and stir with a fork to combine.
  • Form into a ball using your hands, and knead vigorously for 10 minutes. If the dough sticks to your hands or the kneading surface, add 1-2 teaspoons of flour at a time; if it is too dry, add water in similar amounts.
  • Transfer to an airtight container, and leave to rest for 30 minutes, away from heat or direct sunlight.
  • Divide the dough into 4 portions, storing those that you're not working on back in the airtight container. Pass through a pasta machine on the thickest setting a few times, folding the dough over itself in between passes, before incrementally stepping it through to a thickness of 6.
    pasta sheet folded over itself underneath pasta machine
  • Cut each sheet into rectangles of about 60mm width, and 70mm length. Note that this is for a dowel of 14mm diameter; if using a different sized object to wrap the pasta around, use a piece of paper or spare bit of dough to determine how wide your rectangles should be.
  • Working with one rectangle at a time, wrap around the dowel. If the overlapped edges don't seal against each other, run a wet finger along the underside of the top overlapping edge.
  • With grooves running parallel to the length of the pasta, roll across a gnocchi board. Starting on the overlap and rolling towards the exposed edge will ensure that the seal remains.
    tortiglioni pasta wrapped around dowel with gnocchi board and pasta squares in background
  • Transfer to baking paper lined trays, standing on their ends to maintain the shape. You can also stand them up in kitchen containers or cake tins to make transport easier. Refrigerate uncovered for up to one week.
    tortiglioni pasta standing up on a chopping board

Meatballs, Sauce, Bake

  • Combine all meatball ingredients apart from the olive oil in a bowl, using your hands to knead together like dough. Let it squeeze through your fingers.
  • To save time, quickly divide the meatball mix into roughly small grape-sized lumps, before rolling them all into tiny meatballs between your palms.
    miniature meatballs on a chopping board
  • Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a large heavy pot, and then fry the meatballs until a golden brown crust begins to form. If you don't have a large pot, cook these in batches to avoid overcrowding.
  • Remove meatballs from the pot and set aside. Drop heat down to low-medium and add 2 tbsps of oil to the pot.
  • Dice the onion and roughly chop the garlic, before dropping into the pot that you just cooked the meatballs in. Cook, stirring, for 10 minutes or until onion has softened.
  • Add the basil, sage, and fennel seeds, and cook for a further 2-3 minutes or until basil has turned a bright green and herbs are aromatic.
  • Pour in the passata, seasoning with the sugar, salt, and pepper. Be sure to half fill the empty passata bottle with water, and swill around before also pouring that into the pot. Reintroduce the meatballs, drop heat to low and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  • Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
  • Add the eggs into a pot with enough cold water to cover, and bring to the boil. Boil for 14 minutes, until hard, before removing and immersing in cold water. Remove shells.
  • After 20 minutes, remove the sauce from the pot and stir through the cacciatore, chopped into half discs.
  • Blanch the pasta in boiling water for 25-30 seconds, and then drain before plunging into iced water.
  • Break the nduja into small chunks, and chop the provolone and hard-boiled eggs into cubes.
    chopped cacciatore calabrese salami harboiled eggs and chopped provolone on a chopping board
  • Spoon a layer of sauce and pasta into the lasagna dish, before sprinkling with nduja, provolone, and egg. Repeat until all ingredients are used up; 4-5 layers.
    close up of uncooked baked tortiglioni with cacciatore calabrese salami nduja meatballs and provolone
  • Transfer dish to oven, and cook for 30 minutes or until top layer of pasta begins to darken.
    baked tortiglioni with cacciatore calabrese salami nduja meatballs and provolone
  • Remove and allow to sit for a few minutes before serving.
    baked tortiglioni pasta with meatballs salami nduja cheese on a plate

Nutrition

Calories: 884kcal | Carbohydrates: 83.5g | Protein: 40.8g | Fat: 42.5g | Saturated Fat: 14.6g | Cholesterol: 377mg | Sodium: 1109mg | Potassium: 307mg | Fiber: 4.3g | Sugar: 2.7g | Calcium: 434mg | Iron: 5mg
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