Neapolitan ziti au gratin with toamtoes and breadcrumbs

For the past two dishes I've made, both only used the stove so I decided to further my knowledge in cooking. Today, I chose a recipe that needed an oven to be completed since I've never used it in cooking. Before today, I didn't think the oven was commonly used in cooking but I learned that it is actually used quite frequently.

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. Neapolitan Ziti
• 1.75 oz. Onion, peeled and diced
• 1.75 oz. Carrot diced
• 0.75 cup Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 lb. Tomatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1 oz. dried breadcrumbs
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
• Salt and pepper to taste

(I Love Pasta 82)


The very first thing I did was preheat the oven to 390 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, I toasted some bread and blended the toast in my Magic Bullet. After doing this, I chopped up the onions, carrots, and tomatoes that would be used to make the sauce (I Love Pasta 82).

Next, the book said to "Heat two-thirds of the oil in a pan over medium and brown onion, carrot, and garlic" (I Love Pasta 82). After I had browned them, I added the tomatoes and cooked it over high heat for ten minutes. During this time I also seasoned the sauce with salt and pepper.

Then, I boiled the water and cooked the ziti for ten minutes. After making the ziti, I added the it to the sauce and mixed the two together. Finally, I put the pasta into a casserole dish and sprinkled the breadcrumbs on top. I also put some oil in the pasta and baked it in the oven for six minutes.



Making this dish taught me that little things can really change a dish. Before sprinkling the breadcrumbs, the dish looked very sad and it didn't taste very good. After putting the breadcrumbs, there was more taste and it transformed its texture a lot.

I would say this dish deserves a two out of three. This dish was quite bland and that was this dish's major downside. In the end, we added some pasta sauce to the pasta to give it more taste and it instantly tasted a thousand times better.

When you eat something that tastes bad, what do you do to make it better?

I Love Pasta: An Italian Love Story in 100 Recipes. Newtown: Taunton, 2013. Print.