Easy Italian Recipes : Baked Pasta

 Baked Pasta

Ingredients

• 1 box Rigatoni or other short tube shape of pasta
• 32 oz. tomato/pasta sauce
• 15 oz. ricotta cheese (low fat is fine)
• 5 cloves garlic chopped
• Grated romano cheese (no specific quantity - but about 2 cups - use what you have)
• Large sauce pan of water for boiling
• pinch of salt (optional)
• 13x7 pan or 2 8x8 pan

Instructions

1.  Add a pinch of salt to the water and bring to a boil.
2. Add the pasta (I've used either rigatoni or mezzi rigatoni. Mezzi rigatoni means 1/2 size. )
3. Cook for just over 1/2 the normal time (About 7 minutes - depends on pasta type). You do not want the pasta to reach al dente because it will continue cooking in the oven.
4. Drain the pasta.
5. Put one scoop of pasta sauce on the bottom of the pan.
6. Add a layer of pasta (there will only be 2 layers).
7. Put a layer of sauce to sufficiently cover the pasta. The pasta will absorb the sauce.
8. Put a layer of the ricotta. I used about 3/4 of the cheese.
9. Mix all together.
10. Add rest of pasta, then sauce, then remainder of ricotta and the romano. (Make sure all edges are covered with sauce otherwise they will be dry.)
11. Mix all together again sprinkling the garlic around.
12. Cover the pan with foil and bake at 365 for 25-35 minutes. You can tell when it is done when the sauce in the pan is bubbling up from the bottom and the taste test says so!

TIP #1: Add meat if you want, but make sure it is already cooked

TIP #2:  Do not tell anyone how easy this is to make

TIP #3: Freeze what you do not eat and reheat in the oven or microwave for later