Baked Rigatoni

I have always found that the best time to write blog posts is soon after I have eaten the dish I want to write about. In this case, I am currently feeding my face of this stuff. Because it's tasty and I like food. This dish is getting fast tracked into the blog thanks to something my better half said last night, that she would order it in a restaurant. Never has she said that, and I make a big deal out of it because it’s a huge compliment and its not "maybe we should get pizza" (I get that every other month or so when I make something off the wall). Now, on to the cooking!

This recipe makes use of the tomato sauce from the last post. It also takes inspiration from Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, a fantastic Italian cookbook that I would recommend to anyone. So what is this baked pan of pure love? Pasta, cheese, and two sauces. Traditional Italian dishes such as lasagna call for two sauces, a red and a white, which allows a creamy texture and still lends itself to full flavor. The red sauce is usually a tomato or Bolognese sauce. In this instance I went with tomato. If you do not have home made tomato sauce, try this instead. Take a jar of tomato sauce from wherever you buy it, and taste it. If you are content with it, use as is. If not, adjust seasonings (salt, pepper, basil, and oregano are good places to start) until you are satisfied. People often just take bottled sauces at their word and find them to be flat once used. If I ever use any kind of pre packaged sauce or something, I always taste it first and adjust its seasonings. This will save you a lot of heart ache in the end.

The white sauce that is used is a béchamel, which is equal parts flour and butter combined with milk. It’s the same sauce I used with my ron con con. However, since we want some of the sauce to be absorbed by the pasta, this sauce will be a bit thinner and contain no cheese. This recipe multiplies nicely and is also my new favorite for pot lucks. It can be prepared in under 15 minutes, which is an added plus.

Baked Rigatoni

2 cups red sauce (tomato or Bolognese)
3 T butter
3 T flour
2 cups milk, heated
½ cup shredded Romano or Parmesan cheese
1 pound rigatoni

Preheat oven to 400°F. On stove, heat a large pot of water to boiling with a copious amount of salt and about 1T olive oil.

Meanwhile in a medium sauce pot over medium heat add butter until melted, whisk in flour and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring often. Add milk a little bit at a time, whisking to make a sauce (adding the milk hot will allow the sauce to come together quickly and prevent lumps). Cook sauce for a minute or so, it should have a creamy but not extremely thick consistency. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Boil pasta until still chewy, about 3 minutes under recommended time. Drain and place in large bowl. Add the white and red sauce and half of the cheese, toss to combine. Butter a baking dish and add pasta mixture. Top with remaining cheese, bake for about 15-20 minutes until top starts to brown. Let the pasta sit for about 10 minutes after removing from oven to absorb the rest of the sauce.

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Pork for everyone

I enjoy a good pork chop. Especially breaded and baked. So much in fact, I make it about once every other week. Pork chops were the first savory food (along with macaroni and cheese) I ever attempted to cook all by myself. I say attempted because they didn't turn out so great (granted, I was 7). However, my troubles have been remedied and I think I've made pork chops over 50 times. I like the center cut chops the best because the bone does nothing except add cooking time. Unlike chicken breasts, pork chops do not need a bone to add flavor (it only helps when braising or grilling). I also like my chops about an inch thick, anything more and they are begging to be stuffed (some other time, I promise). If you do buy the 2 inch thick chops, slicing them in half (like making a layer cake) is a simple solution.

The common method of making pork chops is dipping them in an egg bath, which is usually 1 egg with salt and pepper whisked together, and then another dip in bread crumbs. Place in baking pan and bake for 45 minutes or so until they reach 160 degrees (lets call it 45 minutes), and eat.

This works pretty well, but there are a few glaring errors. First, pork is a different beast than it was when everyone got together to determine cooking temperatures (probably about 100 years ago). The fatty pork of old was prone to many different disease states, which required it to be cooked to 160. Pork is now leaner and resistant to most bugs. The main parasite in pork, trichinella, is eradicated at 145 degrees. Therefore, pork's cooking temperature can be lowered.

The second error is the breading. Plain old bread crumbs are gritty and bland, only suitable for deep frying or meatballs. For years my family has used crushed stuffing. Yes, crushed Pepperidge Farm stuffing is a great breading. It comes in big chunks, has lots of seasonings, and makes for a great crunchy coating.

So far so good. However, a few more problems have reared their ugly heads. After baking, the bottom is soggy and the chops lack an even, crispy exterior. And pork loves to dry out. Pretty much all the pork I cook now is brined, which makes a huge difference. Trust me, its easy, and you should brine any pork that is not going to be barbecued.

I consulted Cooks Magazine, which, if you are not getting this magazine, is totally worth it. They bake their pork on a rack, which prevents the soggy bottom. It also lets the pork cook faster, which prevents drying. So after playing around with the recipe, I have settled on the following:

Breaded Pork Chops

1/4 C salt
4 C water
2 pounds pork chops (probably 4 of them), about an inch thick

Dissolve salt in water. Trim all excess fat from pork, place in zip-top back, add water, and brine for 15-20 minutes. In the meantime, prepare breading and pan.

1/4 C flour + 6 T
3 egg whites
2 T Dijon mustard
1 1/2 C stuffing. slightly crushed

Prepare three pans, one with flour, one with the 1/4 cup flour, one with the egg whites and mustard, and one with the bread crumbs. Add the 6 T flour to the egg whites and whisk until slightly lumpy.
To prepare the baking pan, take cooling rack and lightly coat with non stick spray. Place on top of a baking sheet.

And now, it all comes together. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Remove the pork from the brine, rinse with fresh water, dry well and season with pepper (it's already plenty salty). Dredge one chop at a time in flour, shake off excess, dip in egg whites and then in breading. Make sure to press down for the breading to get even coating. Place on rack and repeat with other chops. Bake for about 15 minutes or until they reach 150 degrees internal temperature. Let cool for about 5 minutes and eat.

And there you go. The egg whites prevent sogginess (that was the yolk fat), and the mustard adds some tasty flavor. You can drizzle lemon juice over them if you wish, but I like mine as is.

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