Here in Minnesota, after the holidays, the snow doesn’t go away. This year more than ever we are looking for ways to stay warm in this cold cold month of January. Hearty, delicious meals are always requested during this season, so we thought for this months Cooking Collective we would turn to someone we know who makes the most delicious Italian food around. This month’s cooking collective features our Stylist Jess’ mother in law Carmie who was so kind to share her famous Baked Rigatoni recipe!
The Cooking Collective: Baked Rigatoni
Carmie’s family is from Southern Italy and she shared the differences between the different regions of the country with us. These dishes had special intention when they were first created. Some people in the small villages and towns in Southern Italy had not much to show for money, and the inclusion of a meat like sausage was a sign of wealth in the community. Layering hard boiled eggs on the top of the dish was another sign of wealth, or saved for special occasions.
The Baked Rigatoni is certainly hearty enough on it’s own. But if you do want to create a larger meal, Carmie made a wonderful green bean side dash, paired it with fresh bread and a full body glass of red wine. Truly a meal we wanted to savor all day long!
This recipe, if followed properly, is simple and oh so delicious! Carmie has actually written a few cookbooks with a lot of different recipes like this one. It’s fun to make a dish so authentic to a region’s culture. For just a quick second we can pretend we are in Italy 😉
Thanks to Carmie for sharing her oh so delicious recipe with us! To see more of our cooking collective features click here.
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