Pizzagna

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1 lb pasta, curls (recommend campagnelle by barilla, short fusilli or cavatappi pasta may be substituted)
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup parmigiano-reggiano cheese, grated, a couple handfuls
• fresh parsley, finely chopped, a handful
• 1/2 cup pepperoni, sliced and cut into thin strips
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 1 bell pepper, seeded, quartered and thinly sliced
• 1 onion, quartered then thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 12 cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced (baby portabellos)
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 3/4 lb fresh mozzarella cheese or 3/4 lb smoked provolone cheese, sliced thin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• salt

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• 2 bring a pot of water to a boil, add pasta and salt the water.
• 3 while the water boils, combine ricotta, parmiagiano, parsley and pepperoni in a large bowl and reserve.
• 4 heat a large skillet over medium heat with extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan.
• 5 when the oil is hot, add the peppers, onions, garlic and mushrooms.
• 6 saute 6 to 8 minutes until tender and mushrooms are dark.
• 7 season the vegetables with salt and pepper.
• 8 stir in tomatoes and reduce heat to low.
• 9 add a ladle of starchy cooking water to the ricotta just before you drain the pasta.
• 10 drain pasta. pour back into pot and toss with ricotta and pepperoni mixture.
• 11 pour pasta into a baking dish and top evenly with peppers, onion and mushroom sauce.
• 12 bake in oven for 30 minutes or until heated through.
• 13 take out of oven and top with a layer of mozzarella, oregano and red pepper flakes.
• 14 place under hot broiler and melt cheese until golden and bubbly.
• 15 remove and serve with crusty bread.