Baked Pasta Gratin With Tomato Sauce And Mozzarella Food

BAKED PASTA WITH TOMATOES & MOZZARELLA (PASTA AL FORNO CON POMODORI E MOZZARELLA)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200°C/400ºF/gas 6 and put a large pot of salted water on to boil. Heat a couple of lugs of extra virgin olive oil in an appropriately sized pan. Add your onion, garlic and chilli and slowly fry for about 10 minutes on a medium to low heat until softened but without any colour. If you're using fresh tomatoes, remove the core with the tip of a small knife, plunge them into the boiling water for about 40 seconds until their skin starts to come away, then remove with a slotted spoon or sieve and remove the pan from the heat.
• Put the tomatoes into a bowl and run cold water over them, then slide the skins off, squeeze out the seeds, and roughly chop. Add your fresh or canned tomatoes to the onion and garlic, with a small glass of water. Bring to the boil and simmer for around 20 minutes. Now put them through a food processor or blender to make a loose sauce. Tear your basil leaves into the sauce and correct the seasoning with salt, pepper and a little swig of red wine vinegar.
• When the sauce tastes perfect, bring the water back to the boil. Add the orecchiette to the water and cook according to the packet instructions, then drain and toss with half of the tomato sauce and a handful of Parmesan. Get yourself an appropriately sized baking pan or earthenware dish and rub it with a little olive oil. Layer a little pasta in the pan, followed by some tomato sauce, a handful of grated Parmesan and 1 sliced-up mozzarella ball, then repeat these layers until you've used all the ingredients, ending with a good layer of cheese on top. Pop it into the preheated oven for 15 minutes or until golden, crisp and bubbling. Italians seem happy to eat this dish at room temperature or quite cold, but I prefer to eat mine hot.

BAKED PASTA GRATIN WITH TOMATO SAUCE AND MOZZARELLA

Steps:

• Rinse, core, quarter and remove seeds from tomatoes. Finely chop tomatoes. Peel and chop onion and garlic. In a pan, sauté onion and garlic in hot olive oil until translucent. Stir in tomato paste, pureed tomatoes, and fresh tomatoes. Simmer about 10 minutes over low heat. Season with salt, sugar, and pepper.
• Preheat oven to 200°C (approximately 400°F). Cook pasta in plenty of salted boiling water until al dente, according to package directions. Drain in a colander. Cut mozzarella into cubes. Mix pasta with tomato sauce and spread in an oiled baking dish. Sprinkle pasta with mozzarella and Parmesan. Bake about 25 minutes. Serve sprinkled with thyme leaves.

BAKED SPAGHETTI AND MOZZARELLA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Set a large pot of salted water to boil. In a food processor, pulse tomatoes until coarsely chopped. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes and bring to a boil. Cook at a rapid simmer until sauce thickens, about 12 minutes. Meanwhile, cook pasta 5 minutes (it will still be crunchy). Drain pasta and return to pot. Add tomato sauce, basil, and half the mozzarella and toss to combine. Transfer mixture to a 3-quart baking dish and top with remaining cheese. Bake until cheese is golden and edges are bubbling, about 25 minutes.

PASTA GRATIN WITH FOUR CHEESES AND OVEN ROASTED TOMATOES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a skillet melt 3 tablespoons of butter. Add shallot and cook, stirring occasionally for 3 minutes, or until softened. Add the mushrooms, salt and pepper, thyme, and rosemary. Cook, stirring occasionally for 2 minutes more or until the mushrooms are lightly golden. Transfer mixture to a bowl and stir in chives or parsley and set aside. Now make the sauce. In a saucepan set over moderately low heat melt butter, add the flour and cook the mixture, whisking, for 3 minutes. Add milk, bring mixture to a simmer, whisking, and simmer, stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or until lightly thickened. Remove saucepan from the heat and stir in the fontina, mozzarella, and gorgonzola and 2/3 cup of the Parmesan cheese, a little at a time, until well combined. Season to taste with salt and pepper. To assemble the gratin; in a large bowl toss the pasta with the mushroom mixture. Add 3/4 of the sauce and stir gently to combine. Using remaining 3 tablespoons of butter, butter a 2 to 3 quart gratin dish arrange pasta and diagonal rows of the tomatoes. Top evenly with remaining sauce. Place in oven and bake for 25 minutes or until bubbling and golden.

PENNE PASTA BAKE WITH TOMATOES AND MOZZARELLA CHEESE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 F / 180 C / Gas 4.
• Butter a 2 1/2- to 3-quart shallow baking dish or casserole.
• Cook the penne pasta in boiling salted water as directed on package; drain well and set aside.
• Taste and add salt and pepper.
• Serve and enjoy!

PASTA WITH TOMATO AND MOZZARELLA

Steps:

• First skin the tomatoes - put the tomatoes in a bowl and pour boiling water over them and leave for 1 minute, then drain and slip off their skins.
• Reserve 3 tomatoes for later and roughly chop the rest.
• Heat the oil in a medium saucepan, then add the onion and garlic and let them gently cook for 5-6 minutes, until they are softened and light golden in colour.
• Add the chopped tomatoes with about a third of the basil, torn into pieces and season with salt and freshly milled black pepper.
• Let the tomatoes simmer on a very low heat, without a lid, for about 1-1½ hours or until the tomatoes are reduced to a thick sauce, stirring now and again.
• Roughly chop the reserved tomatoes and stir them in, along with the rest of the torn basil leaves and take it off heat.
• Cook the pasta as per the package instructions.
• When you are ready to eat, gently re-heat the tomato sauce and stir the cubes of mozzarella into the warm sauce and let it simmer gently for 2-3 minutes only to slightly soften the cheese (just begun to melt).
• Serve the sauce spooned over the drained pasta, sprinkled with the parmesan (if using) and add a few basil leaves as garnish.

TOMATO & MOZZARELLA SPAGHETTI BAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Heat the oil in large pan, add the garlic and fry for 1 min. Add the tomatoes, chilli and seasoning, bring to the boil and simmer for 10 mins.
• Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti, then drain. Mix the spaghetti with the tomato sauce and basil, then spoon half into a large ovenproof dish. Arrange half the mozzarella over the top and sprinkle with half the Parmesan. Repeat the layers, then bake for 15-20 mins until lightly browned on top. Scatter with extra basil and serve with a big green salad.

BAKED PASTA

Steps:

• In a Dutch oven or large frying pan, cook and stir ground beef until brown. Add garlic, tomato sauce, gravy, cream, Parmesan cheese, oregano and basil. Simmer for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente. Drain.
• Combine the cooked ziti and the sauce, and spread into a greased 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.
• Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 20 to 30 minutes, until bubbly.

PASTA WITH MOZZARELLA, MINT & FRESH TOMATO SAUCE

Steps:

• Put the lemon juice and zest into a large bowl, tip in the onion, then season with salt and pepper. Set aside for 10 mins, to let the onion soften a little.
• Boil the spaghetti for 10 mins. Mix the oil, capers, chilli and sugar into the lemony onions, then season generously.
• When the pasta is ready, drain, toss with a splash of oil, then let cool awhile. Put into the bowl with the dressing, tip in the tomatoes and most of the herbs, then toss well. Tear in the mozzarella and toss ever so gently. Put into bowls, top with more herbs and drizzle with more oil to serve.