With its tiny ring-shaped pasta, cheesy combination of beef, ham, and peas, and hearty tomato sauce, Anelletti al Forno, or baked anelletti, is hard to resist. This Sicilian baked pasta is easy to make and perfect for feeding a hungry crowd!
This post may contain affiliate links. Our disclosure policy.
Sicily’s baked pasta
Hailing from Palermo, Sicily, anelletti al forno is the most popular baked pasta in the region; one bite, and you’ll understand why.
It’s packed with flavor from the sauce, ground beef, cheese, and ham, and the ring-shaped anelletti are fun to eat. Some folks will use another Sicilian staple, eggplant, to their anelletti al forno and often the dish is baked with a layer of breadcrumbs. I don’t use eggplant or breadcrumbs for this recipe, but you could certainly include it in yours. You can use my baked eggplant pasta recipe to help with prepping the eggplant.
Many will use anelleti al forno to make timballo, which is made in a cake pan with a hole in the center, but I’m baking mine in a regular baking dish.
While many Americans may recognize anelletti as the shape of pasta that’s used for canned Spaghetti-os, I urge you to cast any negative associations with that aside and enjoy this amazing dish!
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Pasta. As the name suggests, the preferred pasta shape is anelletti. You can use other small pastas, though, such as small shells or penne. If you’re looking for a gluten-free option, check out my riso al forno recipe, which has similar ingredients but uses rice instead of pasta.
- Meat. I’m using a combination of ground beef and ham. You can use deli ham or prosciutto cotto. I don’t recommend using prosciutto di Parma as the flavor is too strong for this dish.
- Cheese. Pecorino Romano, caciocavallo, and mozzarella are the three cheeses used in my baked anelletti. If you can’t find caciocavallo, you can use all mozzarella, or you can also sub with scamorza cheese.
- Tomatoes. I like to use passata (tomato puree) for this as well as other baked pastas as it’s great for making a quick sauce.
- Peas. Frozen peas make a great addition to this dish as they add texture, color, and flavor.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
Want To Save This Recipe?
Enter your email and we'll send it to you. Plus, get great new recipes from us every week!
How to make anelletti al forno
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- In a large pan, cook the onion in olive oil until translucent, then add the beef and cook until browned. Use a meat masher or spoon to break it up.
- Add the grated carrot and cook for 3 minutes. Add the crushed red pepper and cook for 30 seconds, then add the wine and turn the heat to high. Cook until most of the wine evaporates.
- Turn the heat down to medium and add the passata. Once the sauce is simmering, turn the heat to low and add the peas. Taste test and season with salt and pepper as needed. Allow the sauce to cook over low heat while you boil the pasta in a large pot of salted water. Cook the pasta to 3 minutes less than al dente.
- Add 5 cups of sauce to a large bowl and toss with the pasta and chopped ham.
- Place 1/4-inch of sauce on the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking dish and add half the pasta on top.
- Top with the mozzarella and caciocavallo followed by half the pecorino.
- Add a layer of sauce, then the remaining pasta. Add another layer of sauce and the remaining pecorino cheese, and place in a 375°F oven.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until browned on top. For extra color, place under the broiler for 1-2 minutes, but watch carefully to prevent burning. Allow the anelletti al forno to settle for 10-15 minutes before serving.
Top tips
- Cooking the pasta. As with all my baked pasta recipes, I recommend undercooking the pasta since it will continue to cook as it bakes in the oven. Undercooking prevents the anelletti from becoming mushy.
- Let it settle. As tempting as it is to dive right into the baked anelletti, give yourself a good 10-15 minutes or even longer before serving. Allowing the pasta and cheese to settle a bit will make it easier to serve and more enjoyable to eat.
More baked pasta recipes
If you’re looking for more comforting baked pasta recipes, give these a try!
If you’ve enjoyed this Anelletti al Forno recipe, give it a5-star rating.
Watch us on YouTube, follow along on our Facebook Page, and become a Patreon member to receive access to exclusive full-meal videos and content.
Anelletti al Forno
Ingredients
For the sauce
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 pounds ground chuck
- 1 medium onion diced
- 1 medium carrot grated
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper flakes optional
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 2 24-ounce jars passata
- 3 cups frozen peas
- salt and pepper to taste
Remaining ingredients
- 1 pound anelletti can sub penne or ziti
- 1/2 pound shredded mozzarella
- 1/2 pound shredded caciocavallo
- 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano
- 1/2 pound ham chopped
Want To Save This Recipe?
Enter your email and we’ll send it to you. Plus, get great new recipes from us every week!
Instructions
For the sauce
- Heat a large pan or pot to medium with the olive oil. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the beef and cook until browned. Break the meat up with a wooden spoon or meat masher. Add the grated carrot and cook for 3 more minutes.
- Add the crushed red pepper flakes and cook for 30 seconds. Add the wine and turn the heat to high. Cook until most of the wine evaporates then turn the heat down to medium and add the passata. Once the sauce starts simmering, turn the heat to low and mix in the peas.
- Taste test the sauce and season with salt and pepper if required. Leave the sauce over lower heat while boiling the pasta.
Assembling the anelletti al forno
- Preheat oven to 375°F and set the rack to the middle level.
- While the sauce is simmering bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta until 3 minutes less than al dente.
- If the sauce is too thick, mix in a 1/2-1 cup of water. Prepare a 9×13" baking dish by placing a 1/4-inch thick layer of sauce on the bottom.
- Place 5 cups of sauce into a large bowl and add the pasta and chopped ham. Mix well.
- Pour half of the pasta into the baking dish. Top with all of the mozzarella and caciocavallo. Sprinkle half of the pecorino on top and spread a layer of sauce. Spread the remaining pasta on top and spread another layer of sauce and the remaining pecorino cheese.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until browned on top. For extra color broil for 1-2 more minutes but watch carefully! Wait at least 10-15 minutes before eating so that the pasta settles. Enjoy!
Notes
- Servings. Makes 9 moderate-sized or 6 large portions.
- Boiling the Pasta. Undercook the pasta! Fully boiled pasta will become mushy after baking for another 30 minutes, so shoot for a bit firmer than al dente.
- Extra sauce. There will be a bit of extra sauce. Serve at the table or save for another use.
- Cheese. All mozzarella can be used if you can’t find caciocavallo. Scamorza can be subbed for the caciocavallo.
- Ham. Deli ham or leftover cooked ham will work for this recipe.
- Leftovers. Extra sauce can be saved or served on the side or used for bread dipping. Anelletti al forno can be saved in the fridge for up to 3 days or the freezer for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Follow Me
The Sip and Feast Cookbook
- 100+ recipes
- Essential tools and ingredients
- Entertaining ides
- Stunning photography
I made the recipe as stated except neither caciocavallo or scamorza is available in my town and used mozzarella, and it was OK. Felt like it was missing a “wow” factor, which may have been the cheese!
It find most S&F recipes five star but didn’t have that experience this time.
Hubby suggested adding pepperoni and crushed red pepper, but that sounds like a different recipe!
Keep up the good work; love your recipes and videos (I miss the podcast).
We’re sorry you didn’t find the recipe to be what you expected, though as you mentioned, it could have been the cheese.
I can’t wait to try your anelletti recipe. I haven’t made it in years. Thanks for the inspiration ☺️
I was excited about this one but I had to use Ditalini and also mislayered a little… it also just tasted like peas throughout kinda.
Can’t wait to try another though.
I have a question about leaving out pork in a recipe. I don’t feel good after eating pork so I try to stay away from it. A lot of pasta recipes call for it. Is there a substitute that you have come across in your years of research and cooking? Thank you. This recipe looks delicious. I enjoy you and your family.
Hi Nancy, it really depends on the recipe. If you’re asking about this recipe specically, you can leave out the ham and it will still be good. For other recipes that require pork chops, you can often substitute chicken breast, but again, it would depend on the recipe you’re asking about.
Great! The Rummo pasta is in my market, a little more expensive but I’m glad I tried it. Might increase pepper flakes next time.
So glad you enjoyed, Bob!
Made this recipe today and have to say the measurements can probably be dialed back a touch. My 9×13 dish was overflowing when assembling everything, and I still had about a cup of sauce leftover.
I would maybe cutback the beef to 1lb, and use 1 jar of passata instead of 2, my sauce was plenty hydrated (especially after washing out the jar with an oz or two of water to get everything out).
I think you should also account for moisture in the mozzarella to release while baking, which will further dilute the sauce if its too dry when assembling. My mozz was fresh and particularly wet.
Thankfully I placed a foil-lined cookie sheet under my 9×13 tray because the spillage in the oven was substantial.
Overall a very tasty and comforting recipe which is going to heat well through the next few days. I was fortunate to find all of the ingredients easily at my local Italian grocer. I’ve made plenty of James’ recipes over the years and always appreciate how family-friendly the dishes are as they fill up the dinner table easily.
Made this recipe during our blizzard this weekend. Great comfort food! I cubed up a ham steak Also, had to substitute aged provolone piccante for the caciocavallo because I couldn’t fine it locally. My cheese lady in town recommended it. Would definitely make this recipe again! I wonder what James would rate the recipe? 🙂
We’re happy you enjoyed, Jane! We already filmed the video for this one so you’ll be able to find out very soon – the video should be up on YouTube within the next 2 weeks – definitely before Easter.
Looks like the grown up version of spaghettio’s…. love it!
james. you forgot the eggplant !!!😵😵
Hi Vinnie – see the intro (blue box) where Jim mentions eggplant and that if you want to add it, you can use his baked eggplant pasta recipe for instructions on how to prepare the eggplant.
Sounds good. Have ordered some anelletti so will make it next week after it arrives.
I’m italian, but what is passata? Never heard that when my Mom cooked.
It’s strained tomato puree – usually made from tomatoes that have been peeled and seeded. It’s extremely smooth and good for quick sauces. It’s usually sold in bottles.
Thank you, Tara.
Love your recipes. Have your book and gave 2 more as gifts. We subscribe to your emails but I am unable to print them. It asks for an email which I provide but does not allow me to print.
Hi Laura, I’m sorry to hear you’re having a problem. I’m not sure why you wouldn’t be able to print – would you be able to email me with a screenshot of what’s happening when you try to print? You can just respond to one of the emails you’ve received from us and I’ll see it. Thank you.