It’s my perception that something tastes extra scrumptious if formed right into a cake and sliced into wedges. Sure, baked ziti stuffed right into a casserole dish is nice — however typically I want my dinner to really feel as whimsical and joyful as a layer cake draped in flowers and candles. So, I ask myself, will it cake?

Seems that baked pasta will fortunately turn out to be cake. (In spite of everything, what might high the timpano — a drum-shaped pasta behemoth filled with onerous boiled eggs and meatballs — assembled by Stanley Tucci and Tony Shalhoub within the culinary traditional Large Night time?) The trick is to make use of a hole tubular pasta, like ziti or rigatoni, which you’ll organize right into a springform pan and layer with globs of tomato sauce and cheese, which the noodles will take up like thirsty straws. A ribbon of blanched greens seasoned with olive oil and parmesan runs by means of the entire thing, including freshness and colour.

You would simply add your individual layer cake twists, like stirring a little bit crumbled sausage or anchovies into the pasta sauce, or including a sneaky layer of comfortable roasted root greens tossed in pesto. Embellish your ultimate masterpiece simply as you’d a layer cake — for me, a fluffy crown of recent basil provides a candy, triumphant contact — and, truthfully, I’ll eat this over precise cake any day.

Pasta Layer Cake
Serves 6
30 minutes lively time; 45 minutes inactive time

1 10-ounce field frozen spinach (or 1 bunch recent spinach or kale)
1 pound tubular pasta (like ziti or rigatoni)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1 egg
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 tsp chili flakes (elective)
1 24-ounce jar of tomato sauce (like Rao’s spicy Arrabbiata)
2 cups canned crushed tomatoes
1 8-ounce bag shredded low-moisture mozzarella
½ recent mozzarella ball (about four ounces), sliced into skinny rounds
1 bunch recent basil

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

If utilizing thawed frozen spinach, wring out as a lot extra water as attainable utilizing your palms or a cheesecloth. If utilizing recent kale or spinach, carry a big pot of water as much as a boil, add a tablespoon of kosher salt, and blanch for two to three minutes. Take away greens with tongs and rinse below chilly water.

Deliver the water again to a boil and prepare dinner the pasta till very al dente (about Eight to 9 minutes for rigatoni, or four minutes lower than the field instructions). Pressure the pasta and rinse with chilly water.

Drizzle a little bit olive oil on the underside and sides of a cheesecake-sized springform pan. Chop the spinach or kale finely, then switch to a small bowl. Add ¼ cup parmesan, one egg, the remainder of the olive oil, and stir till easy. Add a giant pinch of salt and black pepper and put aside. (In case you’d wish to make it spicy, add a teaspoon of chili flakes).

Mix the tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes in one other small bowl (the crushed tomatoes perks up jarred sauce and makes it the right consistency for a juicy cake).

Line the underside of the oiled springform pan with the cooked pasta; stand every bit up straight, like candles. (Begin by lining the sting of the pan, the place the springform partitions enable the pasta keep upright). Proceed so as to add pasta till your entire backside is roofed.

Spoon half of the tomato sauce on high of the pasta; gently rap the cake pan towards the counter to let the sauce fall into all of the pasta crevices.

Add half of the shredded mozzarella cheese on high, then high with the remaining grated parmesan. Spoon the seasoned greens on high of the cheese, then organize the remaining pasta on high, in a pinwheel form or in rows.

Lastly, unfold the remaining tomato sauce on high, then high with the remainder of the grated mozzarella. End the cake with the sliced mozzarella. (At this level, you possibly can switch the cake pan, well-wrapped, to the freezer the place it’ll maintain for as much as a month).

Place the springform pan on a baking sheet or casserole dish (to catch any leaking sauce), then switch to the preheated oven. Bake for 30 minutes, or till the highest is bubbly and golden brown.

Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes, then run a butter knife across the sides of the pan to loosen and thoroughly take away the springform collar. Embellish the cake with a whole bunch of basil so it appears bountiful and smells aromatic. Slice into wedges and serve.

Natasha Pickowicz is a Brooklyn-based chef and author, finest identified for her pastry pop-up By no means Ending Style and her group bake gross sales, which positioned her on the Time100 Subsequent checklist. Natasha’s debut cookbook, which weaves baking recipes with tales of her household, social justice, and meals historical past, comes out this spring. You’ll be able to pre-order right here, when you’d like.

P.S. Natasha’s week of outfits, and her cake that broke the feedback part.