“Before bed, I googled ‘rigatoni pie’ and was rewarded with several stunning, gorgeous renditions: browned honeycombed faces, draped with baked mozzarella dripping down the sides like melted candle-wax, stained with pockets of scarlet ragu and sprinkled with a dusting of some bright green herb. There was something so impressively irreverent about forcing the pasta to remain upright and crowded together like a platoon of soldiers. The idea of piping each of them full of some cheesy mixture was daunting, but I was up for the challenge. Omma’s casserole would be getting yet another makeover.” The above is an excerpt of a short essay on the genesis of my newest recipe, Mushroom Rigatoni Pie. I write essays each week on food, family, politics, law, or whatever else I feel like chatting about. This past week, it was about turning my mother’s Mushroom Casserole into something a little more romantic. I made this for the third time last night for friends and it turned out incredible. It’s abso...