Pasta al Forno 🇮🇹

Tucked away at the bottom of my drawer is a recipe written on a yellowing index card for 'pasta al forno'.  I remember my aunt Patsy showing me how to make this and other American family favourites when I visited her home in Princeton, New Jersey.  Newly arrived in the United States as a teenaged student from Hong Kong, I was fascinated with these unfamiliar dishes and unusual ingredients such as the stretchy Italian Mozzarella cheese in this instance.  Aunt Patsy is now in her 90's and still cooking, while this recipe has happily evolved in my kitchen over the years.  Start with a batch of my Bolognaise sauce. The rest is easy.  For the pasta, I use the tubular 'rigatoni' which holds the sauce and the melted cheese well for every tasty bite.  A hearty meal it is, for a night in.

Serves 2

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups Bolognaise sauce
• 200g / 7oz rigatoni pasta
• 1 cup sliced Mozzarella cheese
• 3 tablespoons chopped parsley

METHOD

1. Prepare the Bolognaise sauce following instructions here.
2. Bring a large saucepan of water to boil with a good pinch of salt.  Add the pasta and cook according to package directions until they are al dente (tender but firm with a little bite).  Drain and return to the pan with 3 tablespoons of the pasta water.
3. Stir 2 cups of the Bolognaise sauce into the pasta in the pan.
4. Transfer pasta with sauce to a medium-size oven dish.  Arrange a layer of Mozzarella cheese on top.
5. Scatter chopped parsley over and bake in a preheated 180°C/350°F oven until the cheese has melted and the top starts to crisp, about 20 minutes.