Spaghetti Pie

It only seemed fitting after Sausage Cake to present you with what I have now dubbed Spaghetti Pie! What can I say? I am on a roll, or not........ depending how you look at it.

Not only does Spaghetti Pie relate to the Sausage Cake in some weird Savory take on Sweet approach, but spaghetti always reminds me of my nephew IV of SghettiNoodleBeans. And IV got a great surprise yesterday - a brand new baby sister! I became an Aunt once again yesterday as my brother and his wife had their second child. It is my pleasure to introduce the beautiful Ella Cate:


Baked Angel Hair with Eggplant in a Puff Pastry
Adapted from Giada DeLaurentiis

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup plus 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 to 6 Japanese eggplants (about 2 pounds total), cut into 1-inch cubes
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 pound mild pork sausage, casings removed
• 1/3 cup dry red wine
• 3 cups jarred marinara sauce (a full 1lb 10 oz jar)
  
• 1 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes
• 8 ounces whole wheat angel hair pasta
• 1 pound fresh mozzarella, diced
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan
• 1 (17 1/4-ounce) package frozen puff pastry (2 sheets), thawed

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat.

Heat 1/3 cup of oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add half of the eggplant and toss to coat in the oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute the eggplant until it is golden and tender, about 10 minutes. Decrease the heat to medium. Add half of the garlic and saute until it is tender, about 2 minutes longer. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the eggplant mixture to a large bowl. Repeat with the remaining 1/4 cup oil and the remaining eggplant and garlic.

Add the sausage and wine to the same frying pan. Cook over medium-high heat until the wine evaporates and the sausage is brown, breaking the sausage into pieces with the back of a spoon, about 8 minutes.

Add the sausage, marinara sauce, and crushed red pepper to the eggplant mixture, and toss to combine.

Meanwhile, add the angel hair to the boiling water and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring constantly, until pasta is still slightly crunchy and undercooked. Drain. Toss the angel hair with the eggplant mixture.

Cool completely. Add the mozzarella and Parmesan and toss to combine.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Roll out 1 pastry sheet on a floured surface to a 13 1/2-inch square.

Roll dough around rolling pin and transfer to a 9-inch springform pan by unrolling the dough onto the pan. Allow the excess pastry to hang over the rim.

Press the pastry sheet gently into the sides of the pan to ensure the dough won't break when you spoon in the the pasta. Fold creased pieces of the dough flat against the side of the pan.

Spoon the pasta mixture into the pan. Do this in four steps. Spoon about a quarter of the mixture and then press down the mixture with the back of the spoon to compact the pasta and filling. Repeat three times until you have spooned and packed all of the mixture. I thought that there was no chance of all the mixture fitting into the pan, but if you press down each layer it will fit perfectly.

Place the second pastry sheet atop the pasta filling.

Pinch the edges of the pastry sheets together to seal.

Trim the overhanging pastry edges to about 1-inch ( I didn't leave a one inch overhang and had a little trouble with the next step).

Fold the pastry edges in to form a decorative border. Cut a slit in the center of the top pastry to allow the steam to escape.

Bake until the pastry is brown and puffed on top, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Let stand for 20 minutes. Remove the pan sides and serve.