What About The Pasta?

Yeah, what about those Italian recipe books that I collected. They are all covered with dust ! Lately not only I have been busy with work but lately I only cook Taiwanese food. Then I realized that my poor....poor....beautiful Italian recipe books are all looking sad and neglected. Well... that won't do !

So I grab one of the easiest, since I am not prepared in term of time and ingredients. Here I am with only 4 can tomatoes ( diced ) ,a pound of fusilli pasta , and Parmesan cheese.

Now I have good to search....search....search.... for the easiest recipe that only use these 3 ingredients. I am always a sucker for an easy recipe that works. My principle is, if I want to eat something complicated, I will let the expert do the cooking..... I am not going to get stuck cooking in this sweltering weather like this, 34 Celsius.

Baked Pasta with Tomatoes and Parmesan

Ingredients :

Serves : 4

3/4 cup olive oil

1 pound rigatoni, or penne pasta

2 (28-ounce) cans, whole tomatoes, crushed, or 4 pounds very ripe summer tomatoes, cored and sliced 1/2 inch thick

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese

Directions :

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place oil in a large bowl. Add dry pasta and stir until well coated; let stand for 20 minutes.
2. Add tomatoes to pasta mixture; season with salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Transfer to a 2 1/2-quart baking dish. Cover with a parchment-lined aluminum foil. Bake, stirring every 5 minutes with a wooden spoon, for 45 minutes to 60 minutes. (If using fresh tomatoes, layer, alternating with the pasta mixture, beginning and ending with the tomatoes. And be sure to bake without stirring.)
3. Remove from oven, sprinkle with cheese, and stir to incorporate. Serve immediately.

NOTE: I add a little bit of water, about 1/2 Cup of water as an insurance that my pasta will be cooked through enough. My children prefer a little more than al dente.

Pic: Mixed the pasta with 3/4 Cup of Olive Oil. Then wait for 20 minutes.

Pic: Just dump all the tomatoes on the pasta in the mixing bowl.

Pic: Sprinkle some salt.

Pic: Give it freshly ground pepper.

Pic: Mix...mix...mix...

Pic: It will look like this before I covered it with aluminium foil and put it in the oven.

Pic: This picture is for people who has any doubt that this way of cooking can produce a soft or al dente pasta, this is the proof for you out there ( you know who you are ! )

Pic: The recipe doesn't lie ! This recipe is so easy to make, it doesn't need fancy and complicated ingredients, and it does produce flavorful tender pasta.