This simple ham and cheese pasta bake recipe from the mountainous South Tyrol (Alto Adige) is made with home made egg pasta sheets lower into squares (fleckerl) after which baked with cooked ham and Asiago. The home made pasta is easy to make. However, you possibly can cheat by utilizing ready-made lasagne pasta sheets. An excellent tacky pasta bake that each one the household will love!
Italian recipe with a German title.
Referred to as schunchenfletz within the South Tyrol, this baked pasta with ham and cheese is a simplified model of one other native dish referred to as schinkenflekerl. The names are extra German than Italian!
It’s because Italy’s South Tyrol not solely borders with Austria however was a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire from 1815 to 1919. Though an Italian area, nearly all of folks there use German after they write and converse in an Austro-Bavarian dialect.
As you possibly can think about, the South Tyrolean delicacies may be very influenced by the Austrian kitchen. The truth is, schinkenfleckerl is a conventional dish in Austria, the place many retailers promote ‘fleckerl’, ready-made egg pasta squares. Additionally they make one other conventional dish with this pasta referred to as krautfleckerl with cabbage and bacon.
What are pasta squares referred to as in Italian?
Outdoors of the South Tyrol, Italians don’t use the title fleckerl to explain egg pasta squares. As a substitute, they name pasta squares quadrucci or quadretti. Nonetheless, this pasta is often smaller than fleckerl. It’s extra a kind of pastina and largely utilized in soups and broth.
In some Italian recipes, the title quadrotti is used to seek advice from barely bigger pasta squares. However that can also be a well-liked title for sq. ravioli!
Bigger pasta squares are sometimes referred to as fazzoletti in Italian that means handkerchiefs. However, handkerchief pasta is historically a lot greater than the pasta on this baked ham and cheese pasta squares recipe. It’s additionally not usually baked, though there’s a recipe for baked fazzoletti from Abruzzo referred to as fregnacce abruzzese.
As a result of the pasta on this ham and cheese pasta bake recipe is handmade and the pasta squares don’t have to be uniform in measurement, we will additionally name this a kind of maltagliati.
Maltagliati means badly lower in Italian and there are a lot of sorts of flat pasta items which can be known as maltagliati. These embrace pasta lower into triangles, rhomboids, rectangles and squares! Some have a distinct title like patallette from Abruzzo or cresc’tajat in Marche.
The origins of this baked pasta squares recipe.
I first got here throughout this recipe in an exquisite e-book referred to as the Encyclopaedia of pasta by Oretta Zanini de Vita. This can be a nice useful resource for pasta lovers. It contains actually a whole bunch of sorts of pasta and pasta dishes and is filled with historic and geographical data.
It isn’t a recipe e-book as there aren’t any lists of components or detailed recipe directions. However, it’s a reference e-book that data all the normal sorts of pasta in Italy from probably the most obscure to probably the most well-known!
In line with Ms. Zanini de Vita, the primary written reference to this baked ham and cheese pasta squares (schunchenfletz) was made within the 1800s. This recipe was included in a handwritten recipe e-book belonging to a sure de Montel household that dates again to earlier than 1820. The e-book was copied in Rome in 1871.
There are only a few variations of this recipe on-line. I did uncover a pair in Italian, after all. That is one which I adopted for the ingredient portions though I didn’t use rye flour which this recipe requires. Rye flour is a conventional ingredient within the South Tyrolean kitchen. They use it to make each bread and pasta.
The way to make this ham and cheese pasta bake recipe.
No matter what one may name the pasta squares on this recipe or how comparable it’s to schinkenfleckerl, this baked pasta is straightforward to make and significantly good! The pasta squares are blended with a lot of butter and cheese after which layered with items of ham and baked till the tacky high has melted and develop into somewhat browned.
Other than making the recent pasta, this recipe requires little or no preparation. All you might want to do is soften butter and lower the ham and cheese into small cubes. Then parboil the pasta and blend it with the opposite components and bake. Straightforward proper?
The cheese.
I made this recipe with Asiago. This can be a excellent melting cheese from the mountains near the place I reside. The cheese in one of many recipes I discovered for this dish is Il Puzzone di Moena (Spretz Tzaorì). This can be a mountain cheese from the South Tyrol made solely from the milk of cows grazing at between 1,000 and a pair of,000 metres above sea stage.
Clearly, that cheese isn’t simply obtainable outdoors of Italy. However Asiago is, and in any other case gruyere or fontina would work properly too!
Making the pasta squares.
This recipe calls for traditional egg pasta sheets that are then lower into squares. The pasta is similar as for lasagna. It has simply delicate wheat flour, salt and eggs which you combine collectively in a bowl after which knead right into a dough.
As soon as the dough has rested, you might want to roll it out into sheets after which lower into squares. You need to use a pasta machine (as we did) or roll the dough out with a rolling pin.
When you don’t wish to make your personal pasta for this recipe, simply half prepare dinner dried lasagne sheets in boiling salted water, drain them and lower them into squares as soon as they’ve cooled.
End and bake.
As soon as your pasta squares are prepared, soften some butter and blend it with the pasta. Then add a few of the cheese and salt to style. combine once more. The subsequent step is to grease an oven dish and make a layer of the pasta squares.
Cowl this with some items of ham and cheese after which make one other layer of pasta. As soon as once more, cowl this with ham and cheese. Then, bake the dish till all of the cheese has melted and began to brown.
What to do with leftovers.
When you have leftovers, you possibly can hold them sealed within the fridge for a day or two. I wish to reheat leftovers as particular person parts within the microwave.
Let me know what you suppose.
Whether or not you make this South Tyrolean ham and cheese pasta bake with recent home made pasta squares or utilizing prepared lasagne sheets, it is a tremendous simple recipe. All you want is pasta or flour and eggs to make your personal, plus salt, ham, cheese and butter. These are all pantry staples. Undoubtedly one to strive!
When you do do this recipe, I’d like to know what you suppose. Please write a remark right here on the weblog or publish a touch upon the Pasta Venture Fb web page.
Your suggestions means quite a bit to me!
Buon Appetito!
Ham and Cheese Pasta Bake from the South Tyrol
This simple ham and cheese pasta bake from the Italian mountains is historically made with home made pasta squares however you can even use prepared lasagne sheets as an alternative. An excellent household baked pasta recipe made with pantry staples.
Substances
To make the pasta dough
- 7 oz Italian ’00’ delicate wheat flour (200g) or all function flour
- 2 eggs (massive)
- 1 pinch salt
To complete the dish
- 7 oz Asiago cheese (200g) or gruyere, fontina and many others lower into cubes
- 5 oz cooked ham (150g) lower into cubes
- 3.5 oz butter (100g)
- salt to style
Directions
To make the pasta squares
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See step-by-step directions under this recipe card to make pasta sheets
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Minimize every sheet of pasta into 3x3cm (1.2in) squares. Place prepared squares on a floured floor till all are prepared. The squares do not have to be good simply roughly the identical measurement.
End, bake and serve.
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Minimize the ham and cheese into small cubes. Soften the butter in a small saucepan.
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Cook dinner the pasta squares in boiling salted water for 1-2 minutes till al dente. Drain and put in a bowl with melted butter and a few cheese cubes. Add salt and blend rigorously.
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Butter an oven dish after which make a layer of pasta squares in it. Cowl this with items of ham and cheese after which make one other layer and canopy this in ham and cheese too.
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Bake your ham and cheese pasta squares in a preheated oven at 180°c (356°f) for about quarter-hour or till the cheese has melted and the highest has browned barely. Let your baked pasta relaxation for five minutes earlier than serving.
Notes
As a substitute of creating recent pasta, you need to use prepared made lasagne sheets. Partly boil them in salted water, drain and funky. Then lower into small squares.
Leftovers may be stored within the fridge in a sealed container for 1-2 days and reheated within the microwave.
The way to make recent egg pasta sheets.
- Sift the flour right into a bowl and add eggs and salt.
2. Beat the eggs with a fork.
3. Proceed mixing the flour and eggs till you’ve gotten the beginning of a dough. Use your palms to knead the dough till it now not sticks to the aspect of the bowl.
4. Flip the dough out onto a flour dusted work floor and knead for 7-10 minutes till delicate and pliable.
5. Roll the dough right into a ball and let it relaxation for half-hour wrapped in clingfilm or a moist tea towel.
6. After the dough has rested, lower off one third and rewrap the remaining. Roll the dough piece out so you possibly can go it via a pasta machine.
7. Cross the dough via the widest setting in your machine. Then fold it in thirds and repeat twice.
8. Then, go the sheet via the machine 2 or 3 instances extra on narrower settings.
The widest setting on my machine is 7. After 7 I then go the dough via 5 after which 3. The dough sheet doesn’t have to be tremendous skinny to make pasta squares. On some machines the widest setting is 1. You too can simply roll out the dough with a rolling pin.
Different baked pasta recipes in your recent egg pasta sheets.
- Basil pesto lasagna
- Ham and cheese pasta roses
- Smoked salmon pasta rosettes.
- Poached salmon and asparagus lasagna.
- Italian lamb lasagna.
Are you interested by studying how you can make different sorts of home made pasta and various kinds of gnocchi? Then try my store web page for some nice video on-line programs from my mates in Rome! Nothing beats studying to make pasta from Italians! Plus when you’re there why not order a duplicate of one in all my pasta recipe cookbooks or checkout some really helpful pasta making instruments?
Extra Trentino-Alto Adige/South Tyrol
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