Baked Ziti from 'The Sopranos'
Pasta as a serial actor: In The Sopranos, this baked pasta with plenty of cheese and tomato sauce plays an ironically prominent role.
- Serves: 4 persons
Ingredients
- 50g butter
- 4Handvoll garlic, finely chopped
- 3large ripe tomatoes, peeled
- salt
- 500g ziti or some other tube pasta
- 1l tomato sauce (as above, or the leftovers of the recipe from 'Goodfellas'
- 150g parmesan, grated
- 150g pecorino, grated
- 200g ricotta cheese
- 250g mozzarella, torn or cut into small pieces
- butter, for greasing
Instructions
Step 1
For the sauce, heat the butter in a saucepan and fry the chopped garlic briefly in it. Add the tomatoes and crush them with a wooden spoon. Simmer for about 20 minutes until the sauce has thickened a little.Step 2
Meanwhile, bring a large pan of heavily salted water to the boil and cook the pasta in it until it is still very al dente, about 2 minutes shorter than stated on the packet. Drain and set aside.Step 3
For the casserole, butter an ovenproof casserole dish well. Preheat the oven to 180°C.Step 4
Mix the cooked pasta with two thirds of the tomato sauce and half of the grated cheeses.Step 5
Put half of the pasta mixture in the casserole, then spread the ricotta, mozzarella and half of the remaining cheese on top. Cover with the remaining pasta, then spread the rest of the tomato sauce on top.Step 6
Cover the casserole with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and bake for a further 15 minutes.Step 7
Remove from the oven and let rest for 15 minutes before serving.