Ziti al Forno (Baked Ziti)
My mother-in-law Angela’s family’s version of this southern Italian classic was always a rather simple but satisfying one: tomato sauce flavoured with garlic and basil, layered with cheese (scamorza was always their favourite, but you can also use mozzarella) and, of course, ziti: long, thick tubes of pasta that my daughter likes to pretend are drumsticks –!they’re very effective when beating on pots. But the way you’ll often find it alla Pugliese is with the hearty additions of lots of little polpettine (hazelnut-sized meatballs), or sometimes even slices of hard-boiled egg, sausage, prosciutto or mortadella. I like to stick to the family’s simple version with tomato, basil and scamorza for a weeknight meal, but Marco prefers it with the addition of pork and fennel sausages, crumbled then rolled into small pieces, like quick meatballs.
Ingredients 9
80 ml extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
400 g tomato passata (puréed tomatoes)
250 ml water, approx
Handful basil leaves, fresh
300 g ziti, long thick pasta tubes
250 g pork and fennel sausages, skins removed, optional
250 g scamorza (mozzarella), sliced thinly
50 g Pecorino, grated
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Method 7
Bring a large pot of salted to the boil.
In the meantime, begin preparing a tomato sauce by heating 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a saucepan over a low, gentle heat. Add the and infuse the oil for a couple of minutes, then add the and .
Season with some salt and pepper and bring the sauce to a steady simmer over a medium heat. Cook for 15–20 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced and thickened slightly. Just before taking off the heat, add about . Set aside until needed.
Once the pot of water is boiling, add the (they are rather long, so break them in half if necessary to fit them in the pot). Cook until al dente, referring to the packet instructions (minus 1 or 2 minutes of cooking time). Drain and toss the ziti with the sauce until well coated.
Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F).
To a 20 x 30 cm (8 x 12 in) baking dish, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and about 2 tablespoons of the tomato sauce. Now add half of the and (if using) scatter over half of the – broken up into small pieces and, if you like, rolled into small meatballs – half of the and half of the . Repeat with ziti, sausage and cheese, finishing with the remaining olive oil.
Bake for 15–20 minutes, or until you can see the sauce bubbling around the edges and the top has formed a nice golden crust.
