Baked pasta with spicy red and creamy bechamel sauces
60 minutes, 4 servings
| 1 cup | olive oil |
| 1 | Garlic clove, minced |
| 1 tsp | Crushed red pepper |
| 28 ounce can | Whole peeled tomatoes (San Marzano if available) |
| to taste | Kosher salt |
| 2 Tbsp | Butter |
| 2 Tbsp | Flour |
| 2 ½ cups | Whole milk |
| to taste | Ground nutmeg |
| ¾ pound | Ziti pasta (dry) |
| ¼ pound | Mozzarella cheese |
| 1 cup | Grated Parmesan cheese |
| 1 cup | Coarse bread crumbs, dry or home made |
| 1. Heat 2 Tbsp of the oil (olive oil) in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until shimmering. |
| 2. Add two pinches of salt, and the crushed red pepper (1 tsp), and cook, stirring, for just a minute or so. |
| 3. Add the tomatoes, with their juices (1 28-ounce can), and bring the mixture to a boil. |
| 4. Crush the tomatoes in the pan with a spoon. |
| 5. Lower the heat and simmer the sauce until just slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool. |
| 1. Melt the butter (2 Tbsp) in a medium saucepan over medium heat. |
| 2. Stir in the flour (2 Tbsp) and cook, stirring, until a smooth paste the palest shade of brown forms, about 2 minutes. |
| 3. While stirring, slowly pour in the milk (2.5 cups). |
| 4. Bring the sauce to a very gentle boil and cook, stirring continuously, until it's thick, about 5 minutes. |
| 5. Turn off the heat and season the béchamel to taste with salt (Kosher salt) and nutmeg (Freshly grated) to taste. Set aside. |
| 1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. |
| 2. Brush a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with olive oil (1 cup). |
| 3. Fill your largest pot with water, bring it to a boil and season liberally with salt (to taste). |
| 4. Add the ziti and cook it 3 minutes shorter than the package instructions. It will finish cooking when you bake it. |
| 5. Drain the pasta and transfer to a bowl. |
| 6. To the ziti, add the reserved tomato sauce, the béchamel, mozzarella (0.5 lb), and half a cup of the Parmesan cheese, and stir well. |
| 7. Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish and scatter the remaining half a cup Parmesan cheese over the top. |
| 8. In a small bowl, toss the bread crumbs (1 cup) with the remaining 2 Tbsp of olive oil. © FirstPageRecipes.com |
| 9. Scatter the bread crumbs over the ziti, then sprinkle with the remaining 1 tsp crushed red pepper and a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg. |
| 10. Bake the pasta until it is bubbling and the top is browned, about 15-20 minutes. |
| 11. Let the pasta rest for 10 minutes before serving. |
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