Westchester Eats

The term, “al telefono” in Italian means the strings of melted cheese one can see when pulling from a dish. The strings of cheese resemble “telephone wires”.

Ingredients

• Salt and pepper
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage, removed from casings
• 1 pound good quality ground beef
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced into 1/4 inch pieces
• 12 crimini mushrooms, diced into 1/4 inch pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon pasted garlic
• 1 28-ounce can peeled tomatoes (recommend San Marzano), with liquid
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 pound ziti or other large cut pasta
• 1 pound mozzarella, grated or chopped
• Olive oil or butter as needed
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano (or Parmesan)

Procedures

• Bring large pot of water to boil; salt it. Heat oven to 400 degrees.
• Distribute meat in large skillet, season with salt and pepper,  over medium high heat and cook, undisturbed, until browned on one side, about 5 minutes. Stir, cook another 2 minutes undisturbed, then add the onion and other vegetables cooking until all are tender.
• Add the garlic and red pepper flakes, stirring until incorporated and fragrant.
• Add the tomatoes breaking them up with a spoon.
• Add cream and butter and mix until incorporated.
• Gently simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is slightly thickened. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper; do not let sauce become too thick.
• Cook pasta until just tender; it should still be too hard to eat. Drain it (do not shake the colander; allow some water to cling to the noodles) then put the pasta into a large bowl.
• Toss it with the sauce and half the mozzarella.
• Grease a 9-by-13-inch baking dish and spoon mixture into it. Top with remaining mozzarella and the Pecorino Romano. Bake until top is browned and cheese bubbly, 20 to 30 minutes.