Baked Pastas Winter Comforters

Cold weather calls for hearty pasta dishes. The problem is that now that  it's February , everyone is kind of tired of th e usual spaghetti or fettucine. Ravioli doesn't cut it anymore either.It's time to step it  up a bit with baked pasta. This is just as fillingand delicous as the boiled but with added texture and flavor.

The most popular and well known baked pasta dish is lasagna. Every southern italain has their own family recipe handed doen for genrations. A true lasagna is made with not a pure tomato sauce but a bechamel one with butter and cream Tomato is added later for flavor and color. It is made usually with chopped beef and spinach along with the creamy ricotta cheese. This last is used a a binder.The dish is then layered with boiled lasagna noodles or sheets and baked.Lasagna can have variations. It can be made with a combo of beef and pork or strictly vegetarian. This  last  can have layers of zucchini and eggplant  interspersed with the noodles and cheese.

Manicotti is another baked pasta that's perfect for a winter's dinner. These are giant shells (not to be confused with lumarche - the snail shaped pasta from Italy) that are filled with a mix of ricotta  and again ,spinach. Chopped onion is also thrown in to give it more dash.For another variation, nix the  spinach and add chopped Italian sausage and herbs such as rosemary and oregano.  For a less troublesome pasta dish consider baked ziti, . This is layered tubular pasta , combined with ground beef  and a mix of beaten egg and ricotta altough some recipes call for sour cream instead. It is then topped with spaghetti sauce and grated Parmesan  cheese before baking for 45 minutes . Ziti is a great covered dish to bring to anyone's house or to a church supper.

Winter calls for hearty pasta dishes. Instead of making the traditional boiled,  take it a step further. Bake a pasta dish that's not only nutritious but satisfying and warm.