Pasta & Noodle Casseroles

Pizza casserole with rotini, pizza sauce and pepperoni that actually crisps. Boil the pasta four minutes short and render the pepperoni before it bakes.

Stuffed shells with a ricotta and spinach filling that stays creamy. Boil the shells five minutes short so they hold their shape and finish in the sauce.

Baked mac and cheese built on a real bechamel, not a boxed mix. Undercook the elbows by three minutes and keep the sauce thin enough to pour.

Million dollar spaghetti with a smooth cream cheese layer that doesn’t go lumpy. Undercook the spaghetti by three minutes and keep the meat sauce loose.

Baked ziti with ricotta layers that comes out sliceable, not mushy. Pull the pasta four minutes early, keep the sauce loose, and bake it covered first.

Taco spaghetti that comes out neither dry nor swimming. Taco seasoning drinks liquid, so the sauce goes in loose and the hot strands get dressed first.

Mushroom tetrazzini that is not the chicken version minus the chicken: two pounds of deep-browned mushrooms, porcini liquid, sherry, and the right pasta.

Turkey tetrazzini built for leftover holiday turkey: a shorter bake, a thicker sauce, and egg noodles pulled two minutes early so they stay firm.