Ziti Al Forno

Sarah

ingredients

Pasta:
600 grams “ziti” pasta
coarse salt
Sauce:
8 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 small garlic clove
3 cups tomato sauce
Filling:
1 small garlic clove
a handful of basil or parsley leaves 1 cup of breadcrumbs; use either stale Italian bread that does not contain any fats, dried until it’s brittle and grated with a cheese grater, or the plainest and finest breadcrumbs you can find with no seasonings.
1 cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano or half Parmigiano reggiano and half Pecorino Romano cheese (Use extra amounts of each ingredient if you want to add the tomatoes)
Optional: 5 plum tomatoes

directions

1
Sauce: In a skillet, pour 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, add one clove of garlic, speared with a toothpick so that you will be able to locate it easily. Cook for about one minute, than add three cups of tomato sauce. Simmer the sauce for about 15 minutes, than turn off the heat and pull out garlic.
2
Mince a handful of basil leaves or parsley leaves or a mixture of both with another garlic clove. Mix the breadcrumbs with the same amount of thinly grated Parmigiano Reggiano and the herb + garlic mixture. (I make extra bread mixture for stuffing the tomatoes.)
3
Blanch the pasta in lots of lightly salted hot water (about 600 grams of pasta, or 1 1/3 pounds) for about 5 minutes. Use the largest pan you own and top it with water to avoid pasta from sticking. Drain the pasta and transfer it in a bowl. Garnish it with half of the tomato sauce and half of the bread mixture.
4
Pour a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a pan, put half of the pasta in the pan, add tomato sauce and then bread mixture. Add the rest of the pasta, the rest of the sauce and the rest of the bread mixture. Drizzle with some more oil and bake for 30 minutes, or until the top is golden and crispy. Serve hot.
5
For the tomatoes, use plum tomatoes, remove the tops and the innards (you can add them to the tomato sauce), sprinkle some salt inside the tomatoes, then place them top-down for an hour, so that the excessive moisture drains off. Fill the tomatoes with the bread mixture, drizzle them with some oil and place them on top of the pasta before baking.