Baked Rigatoni With Tomatoes, Olives and Pepper Recipe (2024)

Add a few bottled, oil-packed anchovy filets to the pepper saute for a more savory 'bottom' note. More garlic wouldn't hurt, and neither would a half a sliced onion to the saute step.

It is perfect. Pasta al forno refers to any pasta, long or short, that is cooked twice-boiled then baked, regardless of the treatment in between. (Recipe already says al dente.) There is no "classic PAF" treatment in Italy or anywhere else. Pasta is routinely prepared in advance and stored. It is required for lasagne because it improves the flavor and texture of the dish. Poor quality of tomatoes canned or otherwise is what causes bitterness. Never peel peppers. NEVER rinse your pasta.

Flavors were great, but I would have preferred a bit more sauce. If you like things saucy, consider less pasta/doubling the other stuff. My changes were: starting with puréed tomatoes rather than blending whole, sautéing shallot that I had on hand, doubling olives (next time I will triple), 3 garlic cloves (vs2) adding a couple anchovies, 4.5 oz Gruyere (vs 3oz), baby spinach mixed in at the end.

Used pureed tomatoes rather than taking the extra step/mess of using the food processor. Froze 1/2 for a later meal. Thawed before baking...delicious!!

So much wrong here:this pretends to be Pasta al Forno,but no one in Italy would ever cook short pasta,then keep it in the fridge to be used later(pasta becomes mush);so cook the rigatoni very al dente and then rinse under cold water or they will keep cooking;put the canned tomatoes through a mill,otherwise the sauce is bitter,then no need for sugar in the sauce;peel the bell pepper,otherwise it show itself later;not Gruyére,but Fontina,not Kalamata olives but Gaeta;assemble all,bake immediately.

Agree with note on noodles, but if I want classic PAF, I will make it. This is a riff on the standard. Gruyere gives a totally different effect from that of stringy, bland fontina. It almost disappears into the pasta, imbuing the dish with a deep earthiness. I used almost twice the Gruyere called for (started with just under 8 oz., minus kitchen nibbles for me and two dogs, and rind trim), so maybe the taste was more pronounced. But it was very different from PAF. And delicious. Reheats well.

This is one of the best of this type of recipe (i.e., rigatoni or penne baked in a tomato sauce). However, I wouldn't be so scanty with the olives, probably double next time, and take the suggestion below to add some anchovies or italian sausage.

Adapted this to use up herbed and roasted vegetables I had in the fridge -- sweet red peppers, red onion, eggplant, zucchini, carrot. I began by sautéing a diced onion, subbed in the roasted veg (chopped roughly) for the yellow pepper, then proceeded with the recipe as given. The olives I used were taggiasca, similar to kalamata but sweeter and softer in flavor. The Gruyere is an interesting, earthy element I would not have thought of. I would have liked to add dollops of ricotta, but had none.

@passion for peaches: most cheeses available today are made from powdered milk which could come from New Zealand for example,with all due respect to NZ.I only buy Italian cheeses which are all made from fresh milk from the zone where the cheese is made.The European Union tried to force Italy to use only powdered milk,but Italy prevailed and won. I signed that petition for the good of humanity! :)

Great antidote to Thanksgiving leftovers last night. I tinkered with the recipe adding a couple of hot Italian sausages that I sautéed to near doneness before adding to the mix. I also used one medium yellow pepper and one medium green one for a little more kick. The introductory text to this recipe calls for black olives, but the recipe lists kalamatas. Not being a black olive fan, I would have used kalamatas anyway. This will sustain us all week!

Dear Russ, as a greek, I would just like to make a small note that kalamata olives are black olives as well as green! :)

The preamble says you can make and refrigerate the sauce ahead of time, not the pasta.

I followed the recipe pretty much to the letter, and it resulted in a wonderful dish, pungent and satisfying. Because I'm not a fire-eater, I kept the red pepper flakes to the scant amount. On the other hand, the Gruyère was perfect in the amount given. Nutty--and piquant in relation to tomato sauce and pasta. Thank you.

Simple and surprisingly delicious. Made it once and immediately added it to the permanent repertoire. Thanks for the prep-ahead tip. Also, reheat leftover single (or more) portions in the microwave, add a bit of grated parmesan, a drizzle of olive oil and a grind of pepper, and you have a satisfying after theatre/opera late night meal. Coarsely chop the olives for better distribution. Don't skimp on the red pepper flakes. Don't worry if it doesn't brown. No fresh basil? No prob.

Excellent. Cooked 1lb mild Italian sausage, removed, and then started sauce by cooking peppers in that fat. Added sausage back at the end when mixing before baking. Doubled garlic, Gruyère, and olives. Included Parmesan. When cooking the sauce in my cast iron, I found the cooking temperatures to be too high. I reduced the sauce at more like medium low while the pasta cooked. The dish wasn’t dry but didn’t have much sauce. Maybe would be even better next time with 1.5x sauce.

Loveee this recipe, make it about once a week! I cook the sauce in my Dutch oven then just add the pasta and cheese to that, bake in that as well. Saves a few dishes!

I agree with other commenters that this needs more sauce and way more olives. I also premade it as in the note, and the inside was still cold when I removed it from the oven after 48 minutes. So either the recipe used a shallower, wider casserole, or you need to raise the temperature or increase the cooking time for grandma's pyrex that I'm using.

Really good! I do recommend lots of salt and doubled the tomatoes. It was delicious.

Delicious!! Highly recommend doubling or at least 1.5x the sauce — you’ll thank yourself later. My husband said, “I will make this pasta anytime, anywhere, forever.”

This was quite good. I added double the amount of olives…because, why not! Lovely comfort food.

I used fewer dishes by: cooking veggies in a large pan (added zucchini, shrooms, more garlic to yellow pepper), using an immersion blender in the can of tomatoes, added spices, tomato sauce, cooked noodles, cheese (gruyere and asiago) to the same large pan of veggies. I would oil the lid next time, pasta was stuck to it after 1st 25 min. bake; I would add 14 oz more tomato sauce. No need for reserved pasta water with the extra veggies.

Definitely use two cans of tomatoes. Add more garlic than called for. Also olives.

I doubled the bell pepper, olives and cheese, and fried some spicy Calabrian salami and a small diced onion along with the peppers in step 2. I baked it for the full amount of time and then broiled it for 3 minutes to get the crispy/tender mix of noodles on top, and served the finished pasta over a couple handfuls of chopped arugula in each bowl. Very good.

For the vegetarians who want a little burst of flavor that would be supplied by the anchovy suggestions- try adding in seaweed with the red pepper flakes.

Delicious. Used gluten-free pasta and added hot Italian sausage. Also uses crushed tomatoes.

Great recipe, and it is delicious. But it contains one unnecessary step. It is not really necessary to make the mess of pureeing the tomatoes in a food processor. It seems to me that the breaking down of the tomatoes is easily taken care of with the skillet cooking. A bit more cheese worked nicely, too.

So good. I made it as is, but halved the recipe and used 6 oz of pasta instead of 8. It was the perfect portion for two, perfect sauciness, heat, richness, and flavor. I assembled it beforehand, stuck it in the fridge, then baked when ready for dinner and it was perfect.

I have made this, on a monthly basis for my family over past year. I feel that I have perfected it, for my tastes. The ratio of 1 large can of tomatoes for a pound of pasta is perfect - like many Italian American families,we prefer not to over sauce pasta. I add a bit of chopped onions and less than a whole bell pepper. Aleppo is my preferred spice here.I exclusively use crushed San marzano tomatoes here. I use a standard pizza blend of cheese Parmesan, but nearly double it

ExcellentMarjorie made in cast iron skillet.1 lb turkey sauted w onion and garlic8 oz rigatoniMozzarellaKalamata olives