Baked Pasta alla Tranese
A wonderful vegetarian baked pasta recipe from Puglia.
Servings: 6
Calories: 673kcal
Ingredients
- 500 g cherry tomatoes (1.1lbs) or datterini
- 4-5 basil leaves torn into pieces
- 500 g pasta tubes (1.1lbs) I used mezzi maniche rigate from Garofalo
- 300 g fresh stracciatella cheese (10.5oz)
- 45 g pecorino (1.5oz) grated
- 45 g Parmesan (1.5oz) grated
- 1 garlic clove crushed
- breadcrumbs as required
- black pepper to taste
For the tomato sauce
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small onion peeled and finely chopped
- 500 g ripe tomatoes (1.1lbs) blanched, peeled, deseeded and chopped or 1 bottle 700 g (1.5lbs) passata ( I prefer to use passata rustica which is thicker than classic passata)
- ½ teaspoon sugar
- salt for pasta and to taste
- fresh parsley (for serving)
Instructions
Make the tomato sauce
- Fry the chopped onion in a little olive oil until translucent
- Add the passata or chopped peeled tomatoes, a pinch of salt and the sugar to reduce the acidity
- Simmer over a medium heat for 15-20 minutes.
Make the main dish
- Halve the 500 grams cherry tomatoes and put them to marinate in a bowl with the crushed garlic, basil and a pinch of salt.
- Half cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water, drain and mix with the tomato sauce after keeping aside enough sauce to layer the bottom of your oven dish.
- Ladle the saved sauce into the bottom of an oven dish (earthenware is traditional if you have one).
- Spread a layer of pasta with sauce and season with pecorino and parmesan cheese and half the stracciatella cut into pieces.
- Add a second layer of pasta, seasoned with cheese (pecorino, parmesan and stracciatella) and finish with a layer of pasta.
- Cover the last layer with the marinated cherry tomatoes, garlic and basil
- Sprinkle breadcrumbs and some more grated cheese on top, drizzle with olive oil.
- Bake at 180 degrees for 45 minutes until you will have formed a nice crust on the well-roasted tomatoes.
- Remove from oven, let stand and serve sprinkled with some fresh parsley as required
Notes
You can use any medium sized tube pasta. I used mezzi maniche rigate, but rigatoni, mezzi paccheri or maccheroni would work well too.
Instead of stracciatella you can also use mozzarella.
Nutrition
Calories: 673kcal | Carbohydrates: 73g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 63mg | Sodium: 556mg | Potassium: 646mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 1707IU | Vitamin C: 32mg | Calcium: 563mg | Iron: 2mg