Baked Ziti....

Finally being true to the name of the blog no???
Circumstances are such ...what to do??
This was baked ziti...not something I invented...something I saw Anthony Bourdain eat ...on TV...the last season of "No Reservations".....no recipes were given...just listening to him crib about the lack of cheese in this poor cousin of lasana's slice tempted me to try this out.
As usual the Guinea pig was sweet child o'mine....

Heaps of pasta...heaps of tomatoes and mince...and oodles of flavour with only 100 grams of cheese....Totally worth your while...
Yup! Like Polaroids...close ups are never too good!
Moral of the story...I need to use the cyber shot more!
For the
Baked Ziti....
you need

1 packet 200 gms  Ziti pasta(Del Monte sells Ziti and Bambino sells Penne....same shape same taste...use whatever you find.)

100 Gms Soya granules (soaked in arm water and squeezed )

500 Gms tomatoes

7-8 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon Celery powder

1 large onion sliced

1 cup Tomato ketchup

100 germs Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1 egg
a handful of fresh basil leaves

3-4 tablespoons butter

2 slices bread crumbed

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large capsicum

300 mils milk

1 teaspoon flour

Salt, pepper, red chili flakes, and nutmeg to taste.

To start…this is what Ziti looks like.

Into a pot of salted water boiled till a little rawer than "al dente".Drain and set aside.

Off with the butter and olive oil into the pan…I let the butter burn a little …it gives a wonderful flavor to the onions.

Add the onions...

I use a short cut to grill my veggies when I have to do small quantities. For one capsicum….not worth the effort to use the grill…so I use the gas stove …..on sim…

When the pepper is charred all over immerse it in a bowl full of cold water. That creates the steam to loosen the skin.

Scrape off the skin and cut open to remove the pith and seeds…ready to go now.

Slice thinly and cut into small pieces.

You can add more than one pepper…my ingredients are generally dictated by sweet child o’mine

..

Back to the  onions …when slightly done add the soaked and squeezed soy granules and gently let the soy take on some color.

When you feel they have fried enough…that will be when you run out of patience...add the diced roasted peppers.and mix thoroughly.

Season with the dried celery, use rosemary OR thyme hand full of torn basil you have it and add a leaves. Keep it spicy….it will be balanced by the blandness of the béchamel that you will now make.

Puree the tomatoes with the garlic and add the puree to the mix in your pan.

Cook till the tomatoes loose their rawness and add the ketchup…

Cook this out and let it cool while you move to the bechamel.

For the béchamel…

In a sauce pan add the butter ….

Mild earthquake tremors as I wrote….aaaaaaaaa…so we ran out…

thankfully they stopped in a couple of seconds.

Right…now back to the butter…
before it goes all ballistic and burns ,add the flour and stir well.....you just want to cook the flour,not give it too much colour.

Add the milk and stir till all the lumps have gone.

 Once the sauce has thickened, season with salt, pepper and a little grate of nutmeg.

Turn off the heat and add an egg, beating well to incorporate it ,without turning them into scrambled eggs. For those who do not want the egg just double the amount of butter and flour used.

In a minute add the drained pasta  and a spoonful of cheese and coat it well with the sauce.

Finally…

Butter your baking dish and put a layer of the red sauce, and then spread half the coated pasta. Sprinkle half the cheese, and in the remaining cheese mix in the bread crumbs, set aside.

Assembly line production...

Repeat the layers of the red sauce and the white pasta and sprinkle with the cheese and bread crumb mix

The view from the top...

Now into the preheated oven at 180C for 25-30 minutes.Halfway there I decided to dot the top with the leftover butter.

I used Grill +micro combination 70% power for 18 minutes.

This is what came out …

And cut as easily as lasagna

The crust was crunchy and cheesy…and the layers were NICE…

Next time round I’ll put the pasta in first…

Make this for dinner…you’ll have a lot of happy smiles and happy bellies around

So what are you baking today???