Grammys Pastiere (Baked Macaroni)
Every single family party or gathering that we had, my Grammy would ask what she can make, and it would always be the same answer from all of us…”Pastiere!”.
This recipe for Grammys Pastiere is near and dear to my heart. It is a family recipe that belonged to my Grammy, who is no longer with us. She would make this for an appetizer for every family gathering we had. Holidays, birthday parties, family gatherings.
Now, for those of you who have never heard of this dish, or are unsure how to pronounce it…it isn’t pronounced the way its spelt, which has always confused me. But its pronounced pas-tee-yetta. Oh gosh, I hope I didn’t just butcher that pronunciation…well if you say it fast, it should sound right! You could also just say “baked macaroni”, because that’s pretty much what it is!
Anyways, it doesn’t really matter how you pronounce it, the taste is all that matters, and the taste is phenomenal!
If you have a family party, or any type of party or gathering coming up, make this for an appetizer. I am telling you right now, it will be a huge hit!
I know my Grammy would be so happy that I am sharing her recipe. Obviously no one will ever be able to make it taste the way it did when she made it. She just had that very special touch. But it tastes pretty darn close.
I even have her special golden plate that she always served it on. That golden plate always made the pastiere taste 10 times better.
Pastiere is very simple to make, using only a handful of ingredients.
Ricotta cheese, grated parmesan cheese, eggs, pepperoni, spaghetti, parsley, salt and pepper.
I used Prince brand spaghetti, just because that is the brand my Grammy always used. For the parsley, it is optional, but if you do use it, you can either use fresh or dried. It doesn’t matter.
The black pepper and salt, it doesn’t say specific amounts in her recipe, so I just used a few pinches for each. It all depends how salty you want it and how peppery you want it. But a few pinches should be perfect.
First you want to cook the spaghetti according to package. While your spaghetti is cooking, you want to add all of your ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
Combine all of the ingredients together until nice and creamy. You can use a spoon or whisk for this. I like to use the wooden spoon that was my Grammys. I feel like there is good luck in that spoon when I cook with it 🙂 .
Set the ricotta mixture to the side. When the spaghetti is done, dump the ricotta mixture in the pot with the spaghetti and mix together until well combined. This is probably the hardest part of the recipe, just because spaghetti is long and stringy. Once you get the ricotta mixture going with the spaghetti, the heat of the pasta will soften it up and make it easier to mix in.
Once your ricotta mixture and spaghetti are very well combined, dump it all into a greased 13 x 9 x 2 pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
And there you have it, pastiere! Or…baked macaroni. Let it cool enough to handle. Then you want to either cut it up while in the pan, or do what my Grammy did and try to get it out in one big piece, place it on the plate you want to serve it on, and cut it into squares on that.
That is what I did. I took a big spatula…loosened the sides and got underneath the entire piece of pastiere and flipped it onto the famous gold platter. Cut it into pieces, and it looks just like Grammys looked.
I hope you enjoy this recipe if you do decide to give it a try!
Grammys Pastiere (baked macaroni)
Ingredients
- 1 LB. Spaghetti, cooked I used Prince brand because that is what my Grammy used to use
- 2 LBS. Ricotta Cheese Whole Milk
- 4 Eggs
- 3/4 Cup Grated Cheese I used parmesan
- 1 Cup Pepperoni, chopped
- Salt, pepper, parsley to taste a few pinches each. Parsley is optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Cook spaghetti according to package.
- While spaghetti is cooking, combine ricotta, eggs, salt, pepper, parsley, pepperoni, and cheese.
- When spaghetti is cooked, drain, and add the ricotta mixture to spaghetti.
- Mix together until well combined with spaghetti.
- Dump into a greased 13 x 9 x 2 baking pan and cook for 1 hour.
- Insert a knife and when it comes out clean, its done.
- This can be served hot or cold, but I've only had it when its cold. Its delicious! Enjoy!
