Baked Cavatappi with Roasted Peppers and Capocollo

Baked Cavatappi is a scrumptious Italian pasta dinner, and it’s SO simple to make! Perfect for an easy weeknight meal.

 

Good evening ladies and gentlemen!  Tonight we bring you “Date Night and Dinner Parties”.  Saturday nights have always been reserved for couples, in my world.  Whether it is going out just you and your sweetie or doing something as a couple with other friends, like dinner parties this night has always been thought of as couple’s night.  So, for this couples night I bring you a fabulously rich and decadent baked pasta dish.  I found the recipe in Fine Cooking. slightly adapted it.  Although there is a lot of room for variation. 

We love different pasta shapes so cavatappi made me happy in this dish.  Use whatever makes you happy, be it penne or fusilli or rotini.  If you prefer use prosciutto or ham in place of the capocollo.   The pecorino can be switched out for parmesan cheese.  Such an easy dish that offers so much flavor and fun!  Buon appetito!

Recipe adapted from Fine Cooking.

Baked Cavatappi Pasta with Roasted Peppers

Donna Elick

Baked Cavatappi Pasta is a scrumptious Italian dinner, and it's SO simple to make! Perfect for an easy weeknight meal.

5 stars from 1 review

Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Tried this recipe?Please comment and review!

Print Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Cook Time 20 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Main

Cuisine Italian

Method Oven

Servings 4

Equipment

• large shallow baking dish
• large skillet
• medium bowl
• small bowl

Ingredients

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ olive oil
• ▢ 16 ounces roasted red peppers, drained (See Notes)
• ▢ 1 large onion, thinly sliced
• ▢ kosher salt, to taste
• ▢ fresh black pepper, to taste
• ▢ 14.5 ounces diced tomatoes, drained
• ▢ 1/3 pound very thinly sliced capocollo, chopped
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups fresh ricotta cheese
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• ▢ 1 pinch nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
• ▢ 1 pound cavatappi pasta
• ▢ 1/4 cup grated Pecorino cheese
• ▢ 1/3 cup breadcrumbs

Instructions

 

• Heat the oven to 425°F. Lightly coat a large, shallow baking dish with olive oil.

  Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the cavatappi until al dente.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it begins to soften. Add the peppers, season with salt and pepper, and sauté until soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes.

  Add the tomatoes and cook another 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the capocollo. Mix and set aside.
• In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, cream, and nutmeg. Season with salt and pepper and whisk until smooth.

  In a separate small bowl, toss the grated Pecorino with the breadcrumbs. Season with salt and pepper and add a drizzle of olive oil. Stir well to combine.

  Drain the pasta well and return it to the pot. Add the pepper mixture and toss. Add the ricotta mixture and toss again, tasting for seasoning.
• Pour the pasta into the baking dish. Top with an even coating of the breadcrumb mixture and a drizzle of fresh olive oil.
• Bake uncovered until browned and bubbling, about 15 to 20 minutes. Serve right away.

Donna’s Notes

• If you want to roast your own peppers, roast 3 to 4 peppers by turning them over the flame of a gas burner until the skins are charred or by putting them under a broiler, turning until all sides are well blistered. Peel off the skins, core and seed the peppers, and cut the flesh into thin strips.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 1106cal | Carbohydrates: 109g | Protein: 42g | Fat: 58g | Saturated Fat: 33g | Cholesterol: 188mg | Sodium: 2747mg | Sugar: 11g | Fiber: 7g | Calcium: 444mg | Iron: 5mg

All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe’s nutritional value will vary depending on the ingredients used, measuring methods, and portion sizes.

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Originally published August 2011.

Disclosure: Posts may contain affiliate links. If you purchase a product through an affiliate link your price will remain the same and The Slow Roasted Italian will automatically receive a small commission. Thank you for supporting us, it helps us keep creating new recipes.