baked rigatoni to the rescue.

last night people were coming over and i needed something easy, tasty, comfort food-like and that could have been prepped in advance... so i went for a baked rigatoni. SIMPLE SIMPLE SIMPLE. it really doesnt take much effort and everyone's happy in the end. i'll take this over a lasagna any day. start with THE MOST BASIC SAUCE EVER: sautee on low heat 1/2 an onion chopped AND/OR 3 or so garlic cloves in a thin coating of olive oil. sprinkle with salt. when the onions turn clear or the garlic starts to brown add a can of crush tomatoes or tomato puree. stir so it doesnt stick. cook at least 15 minutes- or longer, depending on the consistency you want.

At the same time boil a pound of pasta as per standard methods.. i like rigatoni for this.

Then get a casserole(off the top of my head mine is 2 inches, by 7 by 10?), pour a ladle (my ladle's about a 1/2 cup) of sauce to coat the bottom, then add 1/2 the pasta. cover with about half of the rest of the sauce, a layer of sliced or grated mozzarella cheese (packaged mozzarella works better than fresh mozzarella because A. its cheaper and B. it's slightly saltier), sprinkle a layer of parmiggiano or another hard grated cheese... then what i like to do is lay down a layer of regular sliced ham.. (THANK YOU TANYA FOR RUNNING OUR TO GET MY EMERGENCY HAM YESTERDAY) you can use anything (prosciutto, spinach, sliced hard boiled eggs, sliced meatballs) but i like plain ham. ..... . . Make one other layer with the rest of the pasta, the rest of the sauce, a layer of mozzarella and a layer of parmiggiano. Thats it!

throw it in the oven uncovered for 20 minutes on 400 (or until you notice the cheese and sauce boil) and it's done.

TIPS:
1. this can sit in the fridge for a good day ahead of time if you need to prep in advance or you can even freeze it for another time.
2. cook the pasta so its good and aldente since it'll finish cooking in the oven
3. after you boil the pasta rinse it in cold water to stop the cooking process
4. put a sheet of aluminum foil under the casserol when you bake it so any overflowing cheese wont mess your oven.