Mandi's Baked Penne

You want to talk about a crowd pleaser? Children and adults love this dish at our house. I feel so hokey for typing that. But it's true!

Ingredients:

1 T olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced (you may be tempted by this insane number of garlic cloves to think, "why not put in a whole head of garlic?". Don't do it! Keep it at 6. It's just right.)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and ground black pepper
28 oz can crushed tomatoes
3 C water
12 oz penne pasta
1/2 C heavy cream
1/2 C freshly grated parmesan
1/4 minced fresh basil
1 C grated mozzarella cheese

Heat oven to 475 degrees.

Combine oil, garlic, pepper flakes and 1/2 tsp salt in a 12 inch ovensafe non-stick skillet. Saute over medium high heat until fragrant, about one minute.

(If, like me, you don't have an oven safe skillet, don't fret. Cook in a regular skillet and then transfer to a 9X13 pan when you're ready to bake.)

Add crushed tomatoes, water, penne, and 1/2 tsp salt. Cover and cook, stirring often and adjusting heat as needed to maintain a vigorous simmer. Cook until zitti is almost tender, 10-15 minutes.

Turn off heat. Add cream, parmesan and basil. Season with salt and pepper if necessary. (I don't usually find it necessary). Sprinkle mozzarella evenly over penne. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until cheese has melted and browned, about 10 minutes.

I usually adjust this recipe so that I'm using a 1 lb (or 16 oz) box of pasta, by adding an 8 oz can of tomato sauce and adjusting the rest of the ingredients accordingly. I'm too lazy to figure out all the measurements right here though, so you'll have to do your own math.