Pork and Pasta Bake

As requested, here is the pork and pasta bake recipe that we made last week. It is from the Everyday Italian cookbook from Parragon publishing. I have a few books from them, including their Vegetarian cookbook and their Appetizers cookbook and have been very happy with everything we have made from them.

Pork and Pasta Bake
Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 carrots, diced
2 oz pancetta, chopped
4 oz mushrooms, chopped
1 lb ground pork
1/2 cup dry white wine (we used Vendange Pinot Grigio)
4 Tbsp strained canned tomatoes (see next ingredient note)
7 oz canned chopped tomatoes (we used 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained for these two items)
2 tsp chopped fresh sage
8 oz dried elicoidali (I had no idea what this was, so we used penne rigate)
5 oz mozzarella cheese, diced
4 Tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 oz unsalted butter
3/8 c all-purpose flour
generous 2 c milk (we used skim)
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper

Method
Preheat oven to 400F. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy bottom skillet. Add the onion, garlic and carrots and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until the onion has softened. Add the pancetta and cook for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for an additional 2 minutes. Add teh pork and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until the meat is browned all over. Stir in the wine, tomatoes and sage. Season to taste with salt and pepper and bring to a boil, then cover and simmer over low heat for 25-30 min. (We did 20 cuz we were starving.)
Meanwhile, cook your pasta and make your bechamel. To make bechamel, melt butter, add the flou, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and gradually stir in the milk. Return the pan to the heat and bring to a boil, stirring constantly, until thickened and smooth. Add the bay leaf and let simmer gently for 2 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper (also a dash of nutmeg, but I left this out). Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in the mozzarella and half the parmesan. Add the drained pasta to the sauce, or vice versa.
Pour the pork mixture into a large ovenproof dish. Spoon the pasta and sauce over the pork. Sprinkle with the remaining parmesan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Hope you try it and love it. Let me know!