Baked Pasta Casserole with Ricotta and Tomatoes

OK, so I was all prepared to post the recipe for "Fiesta Chicken Soup" from an old Milk calendar that I made for dinner tonight. Change ... of ... plans. It was, um ... ew.

Usually I really enjoy the recipes from milk calendars and have found some real jems. This soup, sadly, was not one of them. Very blaw ... so in lieu of that icky recipe I thought I'd post another recipe that I found in a Milk calendar that my family and I truly enjoyed.

Baked Pasta Casserole with Ricotta and Tomatoes

This is a really good casserole that is perfect for the next day’s lunch.

3-4 cups Pasta (ziti, rotini), uncooked
¼ cup Margarine
2 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 Small onion, chopped
¼ cup Flour
2 cups Milk
1 ½ tsp Salt
½ tsp Pepper
¼ tsp Nutmeg
Pinch Cayenne pepper
250g Ricotta cheese
1 can Diced tomatoes (796mL),
¼ cup Parsley, chopped
2 cups Mozzarella cheese, grated
¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350F. Cook pasta. Rinse in cold water. Drain well. Reserve. Melt margarine in a large saucepan. Add garlic and onion and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add flour to margarine mixture and cook for 3 minutes stirring often. Add milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cayenne to margarine mixture. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat. Cook gently for 5 minutes. In a large bowl, combine the pasta with the sauce, ricotta, mozzarella, tomatoes and parsley. Pour into a 9x13” casserole dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes until bubbling and brown.

Tip: If you have people who don't love eating tomato chunks you could try pureeing the canned tomatoes with a hand blender before you add them or try using just tomato sauce.

From:
Milk Calendar 1994

Substitution:
1-19oz can of diced tomatoes plus 1-10oz can of tomato soup for the 28oz of tomatoes.