Express Recipes: How to make Baked Pasta
Baked pasta is quite easy to make and it looks like gourmet meal right out of a restaurant.
Baked Pasta (Source: Ashima Goyal Siraj)
Baked pasta is quite easy to make and it looks like gourmet meal right out of a restaurant. It’s also perfect for weekday night hosting as the pasta sauce is the only thing that takes the majority of time and it can easily be cooked well in advance and freezed. .
This Saturday night, it’s going to be a wine and baked pasta with some light music to chill with friends.
Preparation Time: 10 mins| Cooking Time: 45 mins| Serves 2
Ingredients
200 gms farfalle/ chifferi/ macaroni pasta (any bite size pasta of your choice)
1 red capsicum, cut into strips
1 yellow capsicum, cut into strips
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
for the sauce
8 medium size tomatoes, blanched and pureed
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 medium size onion, chopped
2.5 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp mixed dried Italian herbs
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
I used a 50-50 mixture of farfalle and chifferi pasta, simply because I like both of them and I was feeling a bit playful to do some mix and match.
* Bring about 1 litre of water to boil. Add some salt and 1/2 tbsp olive oil and pasta to the boiling water. Cook for about 6-8 minutes until the pasta is al-dente. Drain, wash in cold water to stop the cooking process and keep aside.
* To make the sauce, heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a deep pan. Add the chopped garlic and sauté until the garlic starts to brown. Add the onions and sauté until the onions start to turn soft and translucent.
* Add the tomato puree, the dried herbs and salt and pepper to taste in the pan. Mix well and leave to simmer for 10-15 minutes until the sauce has thickened to desired consistency. Using a hand blender, blend the sauce to a paste.
* In a separate pan, slightly sauté the red and yellow capsicum for just about 2 minutes. The capsicum tastes better when it still has a bite and is not very soft.
* Preheat oven to 150ºC.
* Now comes the part to put it all together. In a baking dish, put a layer of sauce, then a layer of capsicum, and then the cooked pasta. Follow it again with another layer of sauce and capsicum. Sprinkle the grated parmesan and then cover with grated cheddar (if you prefer, use mozzarella)
Bake for 10 minutes in middle rack until the cheese has browned.
Serve hot!
Food is never just food. I believe it’s story telling, it’s conversation. It brings people together and it speaks a universal language! I love to play around in my kitchen. The thrill of being able to create something new and sharing it with others is what fuels my passion for cooking. The fact that dear husband is a foodie and an honest critique helps! I blog about my adventures in the kitchen at http://www.myweekendkitchen.in/
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