This Cozy Baked Rigatoni Hides Dozens of Tiny Meatballs — The Snow Day Comfort You Need

Did you hear a collective whine/sigh/moan across the Eastern seaboard? Because there’s yet another fresh foot of snow (my count says about 200 times this year) and I still love snow. I get genuinely excited for snowfall. But this particular storm lacked charm; the first day delivered three to four inches of mucky slush.

Anyway, I maintain that complaining about weather is dull. If anything good must come of this, let it be that pasta, meatball and béchamel season has been extended by at least another weekend. After my excitement over Marcella Hazan last month, I wanted to share a dish from the opposite end of her oeuvre — an Italian take on Italian-American baked ziti. The pasta is rigatoni, which Hazan prefers because it holds up to double-cooking and its large hollows slurp up sauce nicely. The red is replaced by a white sauce, the cheese stays subtle, and countless wee meatballs are scattered throughout.

I loved Hazan’s note that it used to surprise students to learn meatballs plus spaghetti isn’t authentically Italian. She clarifies that meatballs are “undoubtedly” Italian — the colossal meatball buried in sauce is the New World adaptation. (She would have loved the enormous one I had at Gramercy Tavern recently.)

I worry this confession borders on blasphemy — it’s Marcella Hazan, after all — but I must admit the dish did not fully meet my hopes. Maybe it needs to evolve. (Yes, I watched Oprah that day.) Frankly, I’d approach it differently next time to suit my American, cheese-hungry tastes: more béchamel, more cheese and more seasoning. More “glue.” More lushness. These feel like righteous upgrades.

One year ago: Key Lime Coconut CakeTwo years ago: Spicy Sweet Potato WedgesThree years ago: Red Split Lentils with Cabbage, Indian Spiced Cauliflower and Potatoes and Cucumber Scallion Raita

Baked Rigatoni with Tiny MeatballsAdapted, no doubt blasphemously, from Marcella Hazan

Serves 8 (though Americans may serve 4–6)

When I realized this “baked ziti” lacked a tomato sauce, I hesitated. But then Alex said, “it would be like Italian mac and cheese!” and I was sold. The original dish wasn’t as heavily sauced or cheesy as typical mac-and-cheese, so I increased the sauce, cheese and seasoning to make a more lush baked pasta that still feels surprisingly light. It remains a subtle baked pasta.

There’s room to tweak: if you crave an ooze of melted cheese, tear in fresh mozzarella before baking. If you need vegetables, a handful of cooked spinach, steamed broccoli florets, or tiny cubes of roasted carrot and parsnip will fit fine.

Make the meatballs: Heat the milk (do not let it simmer). Tear the white-bread slice into pieces, soak in the warm milk for 5 minutes, then squeeze out excess milk and put the soaked bread into a large mixing bowl.

Add the ground pork, garlic, parsley, grated cheese, egg, salt, and pepper. Combine with a fork until the mixture is evenly mixed or “amalgamated,” as Hazan charmingly phrases it.

Pinch off small lumps of meat about the size of a raspberry and roll them into balls in your palm. (Hazan suggests adept hands can roll three at a time; I cannot.) Once shaped, roll the meatballs in flour 15–20 at a time. Place the floured meatballs in a strainer and shake smartly to remove excess flour.

Pour enough vegetable oil into a skillet to reach about 1/4-inch up the sides and heat over medium-high. When the oil is hot, fry as many meatballs as fit without crowding, browning them to form a crust all around. Transfer each batch to a platter lined with paper towels to drain, and repeat until all meatballs are done.

Make the béchamel: Warm the milk over low heat until it forms a ring of pearly bubbles; do not let it boil. In a larger saucepan, melt the butter over low heat, add the flour and stir constantly with a wooden spoon or flat whisk until combined. Add 2 tablespoons of milk at a time to the butter-flour mixture, stirring steadily; repeat this for eight additions. At that point you can add milk in 1/2-cup increments, stirring constantly to keep the sauce smooth. Add salt, pepper and nutmeg and stir until the sauce thickens.

Assemble the dish: Cook the rigatoni in well-salted boiling water. Drain when still al dente and immediately combine in a bowl with two-thirds of the béchamel, half the grated cheese, and all the meatballs.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Generously butter a 9×13 baking dish (the original calls for a 12-inch springform). Spread the rigatoni and meatball mixture in the pan, leveling it with a spatula. Pour the 1/4 cup milk over the dish, then spread the remaining béchamel on top and sprinkle with the remaining grated cheese.

Place the dish on the uppermost rack of the preheated oven and bake 15–20 minutes, until a golden brown crust forms on top.

At-a-glance

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