Lunch: Pasta Al Forno: Oven Baked Pasta

Ingredients

1 pound/450 g rigatoni pasta
4 tablespoons/60 ml extra-virgin olive oil
1 large eggplant, cubed
10 large sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
15 infornate olives, pitted and chopped
2 dried chile peppers, crushed, optional
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (25-ounce/750 ml) jar tomato puree
Salt
12 ounces/400 g freshly grated mozzarella
Smoked scamorza cheese, as much as desired, roughly chopped
Freshly grated Parmigiano cheese, for sprinkling

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
While the rigatoni cooks in salted boiling water, prepare the sauce. In a saucepan heat up the olive oil and saute the eggplant, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, chile peppers, if using, and garlic, for a few minutes. Add the tomato puree and salt. Let the sauce cook for approximately 10 minutes on medium heat.
Drain the rigatoni; add the pasta to the saucepan, sprinkle with some Parmigiano and cook for another 30 seconds. Then place 1/2 the rigatoni in a baking dish, adding a layer of 1/2 the mozzarella, 1/2 the scamorza and another sprinkle of Parmigiano cheese over the pasta. Add the remaining rigatoni, and follow with a final layer of all the cheeses. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

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