Directions
Today we present you the classic Sunday dish, you can take it as an informal dish for a picnic or serve it as a main dish for a casual party, every opportunity is good for a nice dish of baked pasta.
The idea behind the dish is to combine the freshness of Caprese with the concreteness of pasta. This dish should not be a cold pasta, but a fragrant, deliciously smoldering bowl of pasta with tomato and melted cheese. Here is the recipe.
Ingredients for baked pasta with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese
4 servings
- 380 grams of short pasta
- 4 ripe tomatoes
- 400 grams of mozzarella, if it’s buffalo mozzarella even better
- 60 grams of basil
- 60 grams of fresh oregano
- 35 grams of extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 150 grams of Parmigiano Reggiano
- 10 cherry tomatoes
How to prepare baked pasta with tomatoes and mozzarella
Ok, the recipe is very easy, just be careful when cooking the pasta, fusilli in this case, and cook it al dente, otherwise, it will become a horrifying block of overcooked pasta…
Herbs are the key ingredients: if you can’t find fresh herbs, you can use the dry ones, but the dish would lose much of its appeal.
Preheat the oven (350 F) and put the water to boil.
Cross cut tomatoes and plunge into boiling water for 15 seconds, remove, peel, remove seeds, chop them into pieces and put in a pan with 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil and 2 cloves of crushed garlic.
Season with salt, pepper and 2 basil leaves and cook for 25 minutes on low heat.
Grate Parmigiano Reggiano and cut the mozzarella into small pieces.
When the tomato sauce is ready and thick, chop all herbs finely and throw them into the sauce.
Cook the pasta very al dente, drain and toss with tomato sauce, Parmigiano, and the chopped cherry tomatoes and mozzarella.
Grease a baking dish with some oil, pour the pasta, stir and top with additional mozzarella and Parmigiano and bake it for 20 minutes.
Suggested wine
Sangiovese if you want red wine or Gewurztraminer if you prefer a white one.
If you want to pair a cocktail, Moscow Mule is the answer.
