Baked Parma Rosa Penne

Necessity is the mother of invention. I won't go grocery shopping until Friday so it's use what you have day. Lack of time, 88cent pasta, left over cheeses and 25cent canned whole tomatoes set the mood for this experiment.

BAKED PARMA ROSA PENNE

Prep time 15-18 minutes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Set water to boil for 1 lb of dry penne pasta.

In a deep saute pan, add 2 TSP minced garlic to 1 tbsp olive oil. Saute until done.

Meanwhile

Puree 2 QTY 14-16 oz cans of tomatoes in food processor

I'm sure sauce will work fine, but canned sale tomatoes were in my pantry.

About now you should be able to add pasta to the boiling water and prepare according to directions.

Add pureed tomatoes to garlic.

Toss in 1 TSP Italian seasoning. Any basil and oregano combination will do.

Add

1/4 TSP ground Cayenne Pepper

4 oz of cream cheese

1/4 cup parmesan grated

1QTY 4oz jar of diced pimento, liquid included

1/2 TSP ground black pepper

1/2 TSP salt

Stir constantly over medium heat until pasta is finished or until the cream cheese has completely melted. Other Parma Rosa recipes call for heavy cream but I am more likely to have cream cheese on hand, plus it's on sale at least once a month.

Drain pasta.

Spray lightly an 8x11 glass casserole dish.

Put pasta into the casserole dish.

Top with tomato sauce mixture.

Stir gently to mix.

Top with a layer of grated parmesan.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

Not much longer or the top noodles get crunchy.

Go do laundry!

Leftovers: This makes a lot of pasta so you can halve this and use an 8x8 pan knocking off 5-8 minutes baking time. Or if you are too busy, this makes a great lunch box addition for adults and kids.