Oven

Simple Baked Pasta

The sauce is the tomato version of the garlic pasta, mixed with the noodles and baked until the top spots brown. It is the Sunday dinner on the week line. Leftovers reheat well, which is the point of making a dish instead of a pan of noodles.

Prep: 15 minutesCook: 30 minutesServes: 6

Ingredients

12 ounces dried pasta
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
Salt and black pepper
3 cups spinach, or 1 cup frozen peas
1 cup shredded cheese, if you have it

Instructions

Heat the oven to 400°F. Boil the pasta in salted water until it is almost tender, a minute shy of done. Drain it.
Warm the oil in a pot. Add the garlic and stir about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and a pinch of salt. Simmer 8 minutes.
Stir in the spinach until it wilts, or the peas until hot. Taste the sauce and add salt and pepper.
Mix the pasta into the sauce. Spread it in a baking dish. Scatter the cheese on top if you are using it.
Bake about 15 minutes, until the edges bubble and the top is spotted brown.
Let it sit 5 minutes so it sets enough to serve.

Substitutions

Spinach: skip it, or use the peas.
Cheese: leave it off. The pasta still bakes. The top will not brown as much.
Crushed tomatoes: two smaller cans of diced tomatoes, simmered a few minutes longer.

Storage

Cool, cover, and refrigerate up to 4 days. Reheat covered in a 350°F oven until hot, or in a pan with a splash of water. It also freezes well for about 2 months.