Friday, September 24, 2021

Pasta alla Formiana

Another summer tomato recipe I decided to try.  This was going to be the side with braised short ribs tonight.  I really don't like pasta dishes where the pasta goes in raw and comes out cooked but I was curious as it's been a long time since I've done it... I chose pasta that looks like a rooster.  I've always wanted to try it and this seemed like the recipe for it.  

  • Butter, for greasing 9" x 9" baking dish
  • 1 (28-ounce) can "Bianco DiNapoli" crushed tomatoes
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 pound (8 ounces)  creste di gallo pasta
  • 1/3 cup olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
  • 1 tablespoon dried Greek oregano
  • Fresh basil leaves, to taste
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • Summer tomatoes, very ripe and enough for 2 layers, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
  • Fresh Asiago cheese, grated to taste, for finishing


Preheat the oven to 450°F. Butter baking dish. Set aside.  In a bowl and add the crushed tomatoes, garlic, uncooked pasta, 1/3 cup olive oil, oregano, basil, salt, and pepper. Toss until all the ingredients are coated.



Line the bottom and sides of the baking dish with tomato slices (I didn't have enough to line the sides of the dish).


Pour the pasta mixture into the pan and spread evenly. 


Arrange the remaining tomato slices in an overlapping layer on top of the pasta mixture, making sure the mixture is completely covered. Drizzle with olive oil.  Mine didn't overlap as I ran out of tomatoes.  Tomorrow it's back to the farmer's market for more glorious treasures...


Put dish on sheet pan lined with foil.  Bake until the tomatoes are slightly crispy and the pasta is cooked, about 1 hour. Remove from the oven and cool for 5 minutes before serving.  


Garnish with cheese (I also used Italian parsley).


Well, we were surprised how delicious this was.  The pasta was perfect and held the sauce inside.  Beautiful tomato bursts exploded in the mouth when chewed.  Tomatoes were the star of the dish as they should be.  This was a carb-coma comfort dinner.  😋


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