Parkers first guest post: Grammy cooks for mom and dad

Hi. Grammy is making me do this stupid blog post for her. I really rather be eating, pooping or sleeping. I think she is a little weird but I have a feeling that she will pretty much give me anything I want. All I have to do is pretend that I am looking at her or smiling and I have it in the bag. Anyhow, she has been going a little cuckoo over what my mom and dad eat. You would think that they never fed themselves before. Åll mom had to do was mention she felt like pasta and voila, grammy gets all twitchy and runs to the store for ingredients.



Here the sauce is cooking so I decided to have a little shut eye. It isn't easy being born you know. Everyone making stupid sounds and faces at me. Dressing me and undressing me and handing me over to strangers who get a weird look on their faces.



So, granny did the thing with noodles to make it look more special than it really was. I think it may be one of her stupid party tricks.



I got a little bored so I listened to some music. I like Neil Young.




Here the Pasta Pie is done. Grammy loved how it came out. I prefer a liquid diet of milk so I didn't taste any of this but I heard mom and dad say they liked it.



Ok, now maybe grammy will chill out and I can go back to sleep.



Pasta Pie
I got it from Noble Pig who got it from Martha Stewart
Printable Copy


1 pound rigatoni
2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 pound ground beef (I used ground sirloin)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 can (28 ounces) good quality crushed tomatoes
Butter, for pan
Salt
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
8 ounces coarsely grated mozzarella

1. In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta until slightly underdone (I cooked mine for 12 minutes when the box indicated 14 minutes). One pound of pasta should be cooked in 6 quarts of water, make sure you are using a big enough pot so the pasta doesn't stick together. When done, rinse in cold water and drain again. Toss pasta with 1 Tablespoon olive oil to coat. Set aside.

2. Heat remaining 1 Tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground beef. Cook, stirring occasionally until browned. Add garlic, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper. Cook 2 minutes more.

3. Add crushed tomatoes; simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes.

4. Toss pasta with Parmesan cheese. Butter a 9-inch springform pan. Tightly pack pasta into pan, standing each piece on end. Spread meat sauce on top of pasta.

5. Push the meat sauce into the pasta holes filling each one up. Stuffing the meat into the holes is a weirdly satisfying task. Enough said.

6. Place in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese on top and bake another 10-15 minutes until cheese is golden. Remove from oven and let stand for 15 minutes. Run a knife around the edge to loosen and then unmold.

7. Cut into wedges and serve with any remaining meat sauce you might have.