Martha Stewart’s Pasta Day

 On Monday, Martha Stewart spent the day having various chefs share pasta recipes.  Sadly, all the segments were pre-taped and very little was happening on her actual show.  There have been various shows such as these of late, as if she is “phoning” it in.  My only guess is that Barilla paid her a lot of money.

Although, the show was a notch above “naptime”, the recipes were all easy and looked incredible.  We love pasta in our family, and pasta is an easy way to get my children to try something a little different.  Martha shared a recipe along with the heavy hitters of Italian Cuisine:  Mario Batali, Lidia Bastianich, Ron Suhanosky and Sal Scognamillo. 

Scognamillo’s Rigatoni Sorrentino  (pictured above) is easy and can easily be varied.  You can add grilled veggies, Italian sausage or meatballs:

Rigatoni Sorrentino

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 pound rigatoni
• Coarse salt
• 4 cups prepared marinara sauce
• 1/2 pound fresh ricotta cheese
• 2 cups (about 1 pound) shredded mozzarella
• 1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt and return to a boil. Add rigatoni and cook until al dente, according to package directions. Drain; set aside.
2. Preheat broiler. In a large saucepan, bring marinara sauce to a boil over medium-high heat. Pour half the heated sauce into a large bowl; set aside. Add cooked rigatoni and ricotta to saucepan with remaining sauce; stir to combine. Bring to a simmer over low heat.
3. Pour pasta mixture into a baking dish and top with reserved sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Transfer baking dish to broiler and broil until cheese has melted, 6 to 8 minutes. Serve immediately.