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Ziti with Puffed Mozzarella
This recipe is a simple pasta with marinara, but the addition of the puffed mozzarella makes it special. The mozzarella is simply cubed and tossed with the warm ziti and sauce and puffs into soft gooey chunks that are delicious.
The idea for this recipe came from a newspaper article about 20 years ago with the actor Joe Mantegna who is a native of the Chicago area. He grew up in Cicero, which is next door to me in Oak Park, so I feel like we’re neighbors. I don’t know if other cities are like this, but Chicago has this small-town pride in local citizens who gain national popularity and Joe is considered top tier (let’s not even talk about Barack Obama; the Chicago Tribune has at least one local-angle article about him every day, like this one about his non-Chicago Easter pizza). So even though I’ve never met Joe, I feel like I have. Apparently Joe (like we’re friends now) has a restaurant in Burbank, CA (Taste Chicago). I don’t know if this dish is on the menu — but it should be (this exact recipe is a variation on Joe’s original.)
About ziti: Everyone who has ever watched the Sopranos has heard of ziti, but there is still quite a bit of discussion about what ziti is, especially between Chicagoans and New Yorkers. Ziti (according to the National Pasta Association) is a long, tubular shaped pasta. I agree, but then I’m not Italian so my pasta credibility is often called into question (although I do have some real friends who are Italian.)
Ziti is not ridged like mostacolli or rigatoni. Ziti is sometimes hard to find. For this recipe, I was only able to find cut ziti after searching 2 small Italian delis (including one in Cicero) and 2 regular grocery stores. Cut ziti (about 3 inches long) worked fine, as would penne, mostacolli or othe tubular shaped pasta.
- Olive oil (about 4 tblsp, or enough to cover the bottom of the pot for the marinara, plus another tblsp for the pasta water)
- Garlic - 4-5 large cloves (2 tblsp.); more or less, depending on your mood, chopped
- Basil - 2 tbsp, dried (fresh if you have it)
- Oregano - 2 tbsp dried
- Salt - 1-2 dashes
- Pepper - 2-4 grind
- Tomatoes - 2 28-oz cans tomatoes, crushed (or tomato sauce if you prefer a smoother consistency)
- Water to boil pasta
- Ziti - 1 16-oz package
- Mozzarella - 1 16-oz chunk
- Swirl olive oil into bottom of pan and cook for 1 minute under medium heat. Add garlic, basil and oregano, and saute until garlic is soft.
- Lower the heat or turn off completely and add the canned tomatoes. Be careful, because if the oil is too hot, the tomato sauce will splatter.
- Stir well and adjust the heat back to medium. Add salt, and bring to a light simmer and reduce the heat to low.
- Cook for 10-20 minutes, and add more seasonings as desired.
- While sauce is simmering, fill a large past pot halfway with water and cook over medium heat to boil.
- When water is boiling, add ziti, along with 1 tbls of olive oil. Cook for about 15 minutes in boiling water, stirring frequently so that noodles don’t stick together. Cook until pasta is ‘ al dente’ - somewhat firm.
- While pasta is cooking and sauce is simmering, cut mozzarella into 1/2′ cubes and place in a medium bowl.
- When the pasta is done, strain water, and rinse quickly in cold water.
- In a large bowl, add half the pasta and half the cheese chunks and cover with several large spoonfuls of sauce. Add the remaining ziti, cheese and more sauce.
- Toss all of the ingredients till well blended. Mozzarella chunks will puff out from the heat.
- Serve immediately.
