Wednesday, April 29, 2009

The recipe: Scuderi Kids' Fast, Fake-Baked Ziti, from Rachael Ray

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 3 turns of the pan
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes (recommended: San Marzano)
  • 1 (14-ounce) can crushed tomatoes, (recommended: San Marzano)* If San Marzanos are not available, add a teaspoon sugar to your sauce, optional
  • Coarse salt
  • A handful fresh basil leaves, torn
  • 1 pound ziti rigate, big tubes with ridges
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • A generous grating nutmeg
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1/2 cup shredded asiago cheese
  • 1/2 cup shredded Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • 1 cup sliced fresh mozzarella
  • Crusty bread, to pass at table

    Directions

    Put pasta water on to boil.

    In a medium sauce pot over medium heat, saute garlic in extra-virgin olive oil. Chop whole tomatoes (I use a food processor, or you could use a blender) and add them to the pan. Add crushed tomatoes and salt and simmer 10 minutes, add basil and simmer over low heat 10 minutes more.

    Add salt and pasta to boiling water and cook 6 minutes, leaving pasta a little chewy.

    While pasta cooks, melt butter in a small pot over medium heat. Whisk in flour, then cook 1 minute, adding salt and pepper and nutmeg to flour. Add milk and bring sauce to a bubble. Reduce 5 minutes.

    Drain pasta and transfer to a large casserole dish. Pour the tomato and basil sauce over the pasta and turn to coat the pasta. Pour the bechamel over the already coated pasta. Cover the top of the pasta with Asiago, Parmesan and mozzarella. Place the casserole under hot broiler and melt the 3 cheeses until brown and bubbly, 3 to 5 minutes. Serve immediately with salad and bread.


2 comments:

  1. Made it on Friday for my family and the missionaries. Everybody loved it! Caleb had 3 helpings... I guess now I should try to hide some veggies in the sauce.

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  2. Okay, so I made a double batch of this tonight! I was thinking I should have let the white sauce simmer longer (since it was twice as much), because it seemed really runny when I poured it over the pasta. But, the whole dish turned out great; Derrick impromptu invited some school friends over when he saw what was for dinner- everyone loved it. Ask the Grahams if they liked it, too; they got half the batch!

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