This is what I call a “travel dish” that Carolyn makes before going back East, it takes some work, but there is plenty of leftover meals for days. We use our home grow cherry tomatoes for this in the summer. We don’t use all the sauce in the pie, but keep some “back” (as my grandmother used to say) to wake up each leftover dish. If there is hot sausage or stick pepperoni in the house, it can be added to the sauce to bring the dish home!

To reheat leftovers, I spoon some sauce into a baking dish, cut the pasta pie into medium slices, spoon some sauce over slices, then serve along with a piece of toasted Italian bread. This is one of the recipes in Bob Johnson’s new cookbook, The Left Over Ranch Cookbook: Memories on a Plate in the Pizza and Pasta chapter.

Carolyn Skillet Pasta Pie is available in the Left Over Ranch Cookbook

Bob Johnson

Carolyn’s Skillet Pasta Pie

Carolyn's legendary travel dish, a magnificent skillet pasta pie packed with roasted eggplant, cherry tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, capers, and three cheeses, all baked golden in a cast iron pan. It takes some work but feeds the whole household for days with plenty of leftover sauce kept back for reheating each slice.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30

Cook Time 1 30

Total Time 2

Servings: 8

Course: Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine: American, Italian

Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients

Roasted Vegetables

1 medium eggplant peeled and cut into ½” pieces
2 pints cherry tomatoes
8 garlic cloves minced
¼ cup of olive oil
½ tsp red pepper flakes
salt to taste

Tomato Sauce

28 oz can San Marzano Peeled Tomatoes crushed
28 oz can tomato sauce
14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
15 oz can diced fire roasted tomatoes
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp molasses

Pasta and Filling

1 lb pasta spaghetti or Cellentani are recommended
1 cup of reserved pasta water
8 oz mushrooms sliced
2 large handfuls spinach roughly chopped
2 large eggs beaten
2 oz Parmesan cheese grated
2 oz Romano cheese grated
2 tbsp Ricotta
2 tbsp capers chopped
½ cup basil

Optional

hot sausage or stick pepperoni, added to sauce

Equipment

large cast iron pan
large sauce pan
large pasta pot
sauté pan

Method

Roast the vegetables. Preheat oven to 425°F. Combine the eggplant, cherry tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, red pepper flakes, and salt in a large cast iron pan. Stir until the eggplant and tomatoes are evenly coated with oil. Place in the preheated oven and roast for 25-35 minutes until the eggplant is cooked through and the tomatoes burst.
Make the tomato sauce. Combine the San Marzano tomatoes, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, fire roasted tomatoes, brown sugar, and molasses in a saucepan. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. If adding hot sausage or pepperoni add it here.
Cook the pasta. While the vegetables roast and sauce simmers, cook the pasta according to package directions. Reserve one cup of pasta water before draining. Return the drained pasta to the pot.
Sauté the spinach and mushrooms. In a separate sauté pan cook the spinach and mushrooms over medium heat for about 5 minutes until the spinach is wilted and mushrooms are softened.
Adjust the sauce. When the eggplant and tomatoes are done remove the cast iron pan from the oven and reduce the temperature to 400°F. Stir reserved pasta water into the sauce to reach a relatively thin consistency. Separate about one third of the sauce and store in a container — this is your leftover reheating sauce!
Combine the filling. Whisk together the eggs, remaining tomato sauce, ricotta, three quarters of the Parmesan and Romano, and the capers. Fold in the sautéed mushrooms and spinach. Add everything including the roasted eggplant and tomatoes into the pasta pot with the cooked pasta and stir well to combine.
Build and bake the pie. Transfer the pasta mixture into the cast iron pan and press down firmly with a spatula to smooth and compress the mixture. Top with the remaining Parmesan and Romano. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes until the top is golden brown.
Rest and serve. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes. Top with fresh basil, slice into wedges and serve alongside the reserved sauce.

Notes

This is Carolyn's signature dish, worth every minute of effort. The reserved sauce is not optional, spoon it generously over each reheated slice and serve with toasted Italian bread for leftover meals that taste just as good as the first serving. Home grown cherry tomatoes make a noticeable difference in summer when they're available. To reheat leftovers, spoon some reserved sauce into a baking dish, add slices of pasta pie, spoon more sauce over the top and warm in the oven. This recipe is built on our Make Ahead Pasta Sauce technique. This recipe appears in the Pizza and Pasta chapter of the Left Over Ranch Cookbook.