3 Cheese Macaroni & Meat Sauce Casserole

 

 I'd say this is "Italian-American," rather than truly "Italian."

 

 

Ingredients:

 

2/3 pound sweet Italian sausage (removed from the casing)

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (divided use)

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup shredded carrot

1 can (28 ounces) peeled tomatoes, crushed

1 can (14 to 15 ounces) regular tomato sauce

1 teaspoon Gravy Master or Kitchen Bouquet mixed with 1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon dried oregano (crushed in the palm of your hand)

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes 

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup dry macaroni, cooked in lightly salted water

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup shredded fontina

1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano

In a skillet over medium heat, add 2 teaspoons of olive oil and then add the chopped onion and the sausage and keep stirring and breaking up the sausage as it cooks. Cook until the sausage is lightly browned, then add the carrot and garlic and cook for another 90 seconds. Add the crushed tomatoes and bring to a simmer for 3 minutes, stirring a little. Add the tomato sauce, Gravy Master/Kitchen Bouquet and water mixture, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, sugar and salt, stir well to mix. Turn the heat to low (or you'll have sauce spattered all over everything, including your outdoor doormat), and gently simmer the sauce for about 15 minutes, stirring often. If the sauce is too thick, add a little water to thin it out. Meanwhile, cook the macaroni in some lightly salted water until it is almost done. Drain the macaroni and stir it into the sauce. Swirl 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil in a casserole dish, then empty the macaroni mixture into the casserole. Drizzle another 1 tablespoon of olive oil over the top, then distribute the shredded mozzarella over the top, followed by the shredded fontina and finally sprinkle on the grated Pecorino Romano. Put the lid or aluminum foil on the casserole and bake in a preheated 350 F oven for about 40 minutes, then remove the lid and bake at 400 F until the cheese browns lightly.     

 

 

WORD HISTORY:

Tone-This word is related to quite a number of words. A few examples: it is really the same word as "tune" (collection of sounds into a song or melody), it is closely related to "tonic," a word borrowed from Greek, it is distantly related to "tendon," a word English borrowed from Latin, which had gotten it from Greek, to the adjective "tense" (also the verb), borrowed from Latin, and to "tense," the noun (used in reference to the time form of a verb, as in, "Do I use the present tense or the past tense in this sentence?"), a word borrowed from French, which had it from Latin, to "tender," the verb, borrowed from French, which had it from Latin, and "tender," the adjective, likewise borrowed from French, which had it from Latin (but from a different Latin word than the verb), and to "thin," a word from the Germanic roots of English. It goes back to Indo European "ten," which meant, "to stretch, to stretch out." This gave transliterated Ancient Greek the verb "teínein," which meant, "to extend, to spread," and this produced the noun "tónos," meaning "rope" (materials wound together and then extended to tie or secure something), which developed the secondary meaning, "tension," from the idea of "taut rope," and further, "accent, voice stress, intonation," from the sound made by various degrees of tension applied to rope or cords when plucked. Latin borrowed this as "tonus," with the same general meanings, but with "particular sound or pitch of something" gaining in prominence, with Latin-based Old French taking the word as "ton." English borrowed the word from French in the mid 1300s, but with influence from Latin, and that influence likely brought about the later spelling with the ending 'e' to signify the 'o' being long. The mid 1600s saw the use for "firm body" begin, and the mid 1700s brought the additional meaning "attitude expressed in spoken (later even in written) words." The idea of high and low pitch in sound came to be used figuratively for shades of color.