Baked Pasta with Tomato Sauce
This Baked Pasta with Tomato Sauce is decadent and rich. Freshly grated mozzarella, cheddar, and Parmesan make it extra cheesy.
Servings: 6 people
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Ingredients
For the tomato sauce:
- 1 small onion
- 2-3 garlic cloves
- 3 Tbsp olive oil
- 28 oz crushed or small diced tomatoes
- 8 oz cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
- 1 ½ tsp sea salt
- dash ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- ½ tsp Italian seasoning
- 3 Tbsp parsley, finely chopped
Everything else:
- 1 pound pasta
- 6 oz mozzarella cheese
- ¾ cup cheddar cheese
- ¾ cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
Cook the onion and garlic
- Add 2 Tbsp olive oil to a large skillet. Turn the heat to medium high. Allow the pan to heat up for 30 seconds, then add the onion, garlic, and ½ tsp salt. Cook over medium-high heat for 6 minutes, until the pan starts to get dry and the onion begins to brown.
- Now add ¼ cup water to the pan. Cook for 2 minutes. The water will reduce by half.
- Now turn the heat down to low, and cook the onion for an additional 2 minutes.
Add the fresh tomato
- Next, add the fresh tomatoes, ½ tsp salt, and the last Tbsp olive oil. Turn the heat up to medium, and cook for 7 minutes, until the tomatoes have broken down a bit and released their juices.
Add the canned tomatoes
- Now add the canned tomatoes and their juices, the last ½ tsp salt, the brown sugar, Italian seasoning, and the parsley.
- Over medium low, bring the mixture to a simmer. This will take about 6 minutes.
- Once simmering, allow the tomato mixture to simmer for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Cook the pasta
- While your tomato sauce is simmering, cook the pasta according to package instructions, but subtract 2-3 minutes from the cook time. We want the pasta to be slightly undercooked. It will finish cooking in the oven.
- Now is also a good time to toss together the mozzarella and cheddar. We want the cheddar to be evenly distributed throughout the mozzarella.
Combine the pasta and sauce
- Once the pasta finishes cooking, drain it, and put in back in the pot you cooked it in.
- Now add the tomato sauce to the pot with the pasta, and mix it all together until the sauce evenly coasts all the pasta.
Get ready to bake
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
- Oil a 9x13 inch-baking dish. Spread half of the pasta/tomato sauce mixture evenly in the bottom of the pan.
- Now sprinkle half of the mozzarella/cheddar mixture on top, followed by half of the Parmesan.
- Spread the rest of the pasta/tomato sauce mixture over the cheese. Last, sprinkle the remaining mozzarella/cheddar mixture on top, followed by the remaining Parmesan.
Bake the pasta
- Bake the pasta, uncovered, for 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees, until the cheese is bubbly and slightly browned.
- Serve and enjoy!
Notes
This baked pasta is vegetarian.
This baked pasta is gluten-free if you use gluten-free pasta.