I hate doing dishes. So when I see a meal that uses one pot for everything, I'm in. Especially when it happens to be pasta, which I love. I tend to be picky about my pasta in one regard: it has to be al dente. If it's overcooked and mushy, I'm not a fan. Although, let's be real; I'll still probably eat it. This makes a huge amount of pasta, so it's great if you have a big family. I froze half of it, and the whole recipe made two dinners for us plus about 6 lunches for me. It's a lot. I added meat to the original recipe...I browned up some Italian sausage before I made the sauce, and then I layered the pasta with pepperoni before I added the mozzarella cheese and baked it. I loved both additions, but if you're not a meat eater, just leave those out.
One-Pot Baked Penne
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8 ounces Italian sausage
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
3 cups water
12 ounces (3 3/4 cups) penne or ziti
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup minced fresh basil leaves
1/4-1/2 cup pepperoni
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
In a large, oven-safe skillet (mine is 10 inches), brown Italian sausage over medium high heat and crumble/cut into pieces. Once browned, add oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until fragrant, about one minute. Add the can of tomatoes, water, pasta, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and stir together. Cover and cook, stirring often, and maintain a vigorous simmer until pasta is almost tender (about 15-18 minutes). You want it to be less than al dente because baking it will bring it up to al dente.
Stir in cream, parmesan, and fresh basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread pepperoni over the pasta, sprinkle the mozzarella on top of that, and bake, uncovered, for about 10 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and browned.
Source: Cook's Illustrated
One-Pot Baked Penne
Print this recipe
8 ounces Italian sausage
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon salt, divided
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
3 cups water
12 ounces (3 3/4 cups) penne or ziti
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup minced fresh basil leaves
1/4-1/2 cup pepperoni
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
In a large, oven-safe skillet (mine is 10 inches), brown Italian sausage over medium high heat and crumble/cut into pieces. Once browned, add oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook until fragrant, about one minute. Add the can of tomatoes, water, pasta, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and stir together. Cover and cook, stirring often, and maintain a vigorous simmer until pasta is almost tender (about 15-18 minutes). You want it to be less than al dente because baking it will bring it up to al dente.
Stir in cream, parmesan, and fresh basil. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Spread pepperoni over the pasta, sprinkle the mozzarella on top of that, and bake, uncovered, for about 10 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and browned.
Source: Cook's Illustrated
