Pasta al Forno (Baked Pasta)

by Markus McMurdie

Field Kitchen Manager

Photo credit Logan Walker

When I was little, I was an extremely picky eater. If it wasn’t fried, breaded, or composed mainly of chocolate, I wouldn’t put it in my mouth. Eventually I moved on to my Charcoal Grilling Period, then a stint as a vegetarian, followed by a Frozen-Foods-Only Period in college. I suppose that biographers will characterize my current period as “A Little of Everything, But Mostly Granola Bars and Red Bulls.”

Of all my food periods, the one my family probably hated the most was from age 16 to 18 when I went vegetarian. My older brother and his girlfriend had become vegan after watching a bunch of animal cruelty shows, and I followed their example. Sort of. I didn’t go as far as cutting out milk and cheese, but I did get pretty riled up online calling out the evils of Big Food and Big Pharma. I was consuming a lot of media back then, and it made me irritable and ready to explode. Basically, I just wanted to be upset with someone all the time.

As a vegetarian, it was surprisingly hard to find enough to eat unless I made it myself. My mom is an awesome cook, but not a lot of the food at home was vegetarian. I remember one Thanksgiving when my brother and I snuck out to Del Taco for bean burritos rather than eating with the family. I know my mom was kind of hurt by that. (Sorry, Mom.)

Dad to the Rescue

Towards the end of my vegetarian phase, my dad took me to the kitchen and made me learn how to make pasta al forno (baked pasta). He actually made me practice cooking it in front of him, and thank goodness he did, because it ended up getting me through school! It’s quick and easy enough for a college student to make, and it always makes enough for leftovers.

Of course, you can make it without meat—and I won’t shame you if you do—but, unless you’re an angry teenager raging at the world, why would you? 😊

Pasta al Forno (Baked Pasta)

(serves 6 hungry students)

Ingredients

• 8 oz uncooked rigatoni pasta
• 16 oz tomato sauce/marinara
• ½ onion, diced
• 3-5 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 bell peppers, sliced
• 1 cup Canadian bacon (ham) or different protein like beans or Italian sausage, cubed
• 2 carrots, sliced
• lots of mozzarella
• lots of parmesan
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• salt & pepper

Directions

1. Simmer your tomato sauce/marinara in a large pot with your garlic, onion, and ham. (Our family likes to zest a carrot into the sauce too.)
2. As the sauce thickens, add bell peppers and carrots to your sauce. If you chose legumes for protein, I’d add them now. In another large pot, boil about 4-6 cups of water for your pasta.
3. Cook rigatoni until al dente, 1-2 minutes less than package instructions. Drain through a colander. Toss the noodles into the sauce pot. You don’t want your rigatoni drowning in sauce, just enough to simply coat most of your pasta.
4. Pour some of the pasta and sauce into a deep baking dish. Grate and tear your parmesan and mozzarella, layer, and stack with remaining pasta and sauce.
5. Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes covered with tin foil, then 15 more minutes with no cover. You know it’s done when your cheese has browned.

Pro Tip:

“Pasta al forno” literally means “pasta baked in an oven” and can refer to other dishes like lasagna, cannelloni, or baked ziti. Don’t be confused when you see it on a menu and it looks a little different.

Buon appetito!