Saturday, November 29, 2008

PENNE, TOMATO AND OLIVE CASSEROLE

Our friend Vito stopped by today to help us with some projects around the house. I put this together for the boys and they ate the whole thing! (Well, I had my fair share too!)




Ingredients
1 pound penne
1 container grape or cherry tomatoes (about 1-1/2 cups)
½ cup kalmata olives (rough chopped)
½ cup fresh chopped basil
½ cup fresh chopped parsley
1 glove garlic minced (I prefer the frozen garlic cubes)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Crushed red pepper flakes
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
½ cup slice mozzarella

Heat water for pasta. Slice tomatoes in half and gently squeeze out seeds into a bowl to discard. Remove pits from olives and rough chop. Rough chop basil and parsley. Finely mince garlic or use the cubed frozen garlic which incorporates nicely into dishes.

Preheat oven to 400.

Cook penne just until it begins to soften. Noodles should still be slightly hard. Drain pasta. Reserve 2 cups of pasta water.

In large saucepan add olive oil and heat. Add a sprinkling of crushed red pepper flakes and let them heat up. Add tomatoes and garlic and stir. Add olives, stir. Add basil and parsley and incorporate. Add penne into pot and add about ½ to 1 cup of pasta water. Heat up mixture so pasta continues to cook, but only al dente. Add more water as needed.

Grease a 9 inch baking dish or casserole dish with butter or non-stick spray. Add pasta. Sprinkled mozzarella cheese and grated cheese over top.

Bake for 15 minutes or until cheese browns on top. Remove from oven. Allow to cool slightly, then serve.

This recipe is Vito tested and approved!






Servings: Two hungry guys and one hungry girl.

1 comment:

  1. Yep, that's me chowing on Lynn's pasta. It was so good I had a second and third serving.

    I need help them around the house more often so I can benefit from the great food!!

    Many thanks!! - Vito

    ReplyDelete