Baked Penne in Tomato Cream Sauce
October 15, 2006
I realize that I rarely cook with so much dairy, but I had to try this baked pasta dish because of how simple it seemed. I tend to use penne a lot, but that is because it is my favorite cut of pasta, especially if it is rigate, with the little ridges running down the tube. This recipe is also a good way to use some ripened vine tomatoes if you have any on hand.
You will need:
- 2 vine ripened tomatoes, diced
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 3 tbsp butter
- 1/2 small white onion or 1 whole shallot finely diced
- 1 c cream
- 1 egg yolk
- handful of basil leaves, minced
- 1 c bread crumbs
- 1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Step One: Boil water and 1 tsp of salt for pasta; when water boils, add 2 c of dry pasta. While that cooks, saute the garlic, butter and onions in a saute pan over medium heat until translucent. Add salt and pepper to taste, and tomatoes; saute for another 7 minutes until tomatoes soften.
Step Two: Pour contents of pan into a blender and blend for 45 seconds until mixture becomes smooth. Return contents to the pan and add basil.
Step Three: Whisk cream and egg yolk together in a bowl. Add egg and cream mixture to pan, whisk well and let thicken over medium heat for 5-7 minutes or until mixture coats a spoon. Turn off heat. Add cooked and drained penne pasta and mix well.
Step Four: Place pasta in a casserole pan and layer with Parmesan cheese. Top off with bread crumbs and bake for 10 minutes. Serve hot.
