Baked Pasta
This was a Jamie Oliver recipe, the key here is was. With a few tweaks, this is now a great recipe – tweaks are noted. It is more like cooking technique than a complete recipe. But it is very simple and people seem to really enjoy a slightly different way of having spaghetti.
The Sauce:
You can make a scratch sauce, if you do; I highly recommend making it with San Marzano tomatoes. In any case, you can make it anyway you want, or just open a jar if that is what you like.
A variation:
If you like meat in it then cook up some Italian sausage and slice it and put it into the layers later.
Da Cheese:
Grate about 4 big handfuls of parmesan (no canned stuff – only good fresh grated), more can be good here too.
12/15 oz of FRESH mozzarella – yes fresh makes a difference here – but it is your choice…just make the right choice ok.
The Pasta:
This is what you need to pay the most attention to.
When you cook the pasta be SURE to under cook it slightly, the reason is; it will cook more in the final step. And don’t cook it like most North Americans (yes I am including Canada), and over cook it. El Dente or “to the tooth”, doesn’t mean the fork cuts it with no effort. You want it to be firm but not to firm, yet soft but not to soft, hence the term “el dente”.
Oven:
Preheat to 400F.
Let’s get ready to cook:
Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly oil it so you don’t get foil sticking to it, besides this makes clean up very simple.
But a thin layer of sauce on the foil
1/3 pasta
1/3 sausage (if you use it)
1/3 sauce
1/3 parmesan
1/3 fresh mozzarella
Repeat until you are finished, are you thinking Lasagna?
One thing to be careful of is that you don’t make it into a peak like a mountain; you want to make the layers as even as you can.
Put it in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or longer depending on your oven, until it is golden, crisp and bubbling.
Enjoy!
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