This is a warm, comforting winter dinner. It could easily be made vegetarian or vegan by substituting vegetarian sausage and vegan cheese for the animal-based ingredients.
I often find baked pasta dishes bland and uninspiring, so here's my hint for making them better. First of all, make sure you salt your pasta water well so that the pasta has some flavor. It should be as salty as the sea: use around 1/4 cup of salt in a large pot of water. I know that seems like an obscene amount of salt, but it won't be too salty, promise.
The other thing is not to overcook your pasta. It will keep cooking in the sauce while it's in the oven, so you should drain it before it's cooked through..
And the other other thing is to make your own tomato sauce. I have never tried a jarred pasta sauce that wasn't horridly sweet, with a slimy consistency. My recipe (link below) uses crushed tomatoes and a mirepoix. It's a beautiful thing.
Ingredients (serves around 6)
1/2 pound penne (I used whole wheat)
salt (for the pasta water)
1/2 recipe tomato pasta sauce
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 pound Italian sausage (pork, turkey, or chicken would all work well)
4 oz shredded Italian blend cheese (=a mixture of 3 parts mozzarella, 1 part parmesan)
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cook your pasta in a large pot of salty water. Drain it 3 minutes sooner than the recommended cooking time on the packet.
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan. Add the sausage, crumbling it with a wooden spoon, until there is no more pink remaining.
Mix the pasta with the tomato sauce and the sausage, and pour into an 8x8 oven dish. Sprinkle with the cheese, and bake for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and beginning to turn golden brown.
No comments:
Post a Comment