BAKED RIGATONI WITH TOMATOES, OLIVES AND PEPPER

Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Serves: 6

Ingredients:

1 can tomatoes, whole or diced, with juice

3 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, more for oiling baking dish

1 large sweet yellow pepper, cut in

½in. dice

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves or ½ tsp dried thyme

½ tsp red pepper flakes

1/8 tsp sugar

Salt

1/3 cup kalamata olives, pitted and halved

Black pepper

2 Tbsp slivered fresh basil (optional)

450g rigatoni

¾ cup Gruyère, grated

¼ cup Parmesan, grated

Preparation:

1. Pulse tomatoes with juice in a food processor to a coarse purée. Put a large pot of water on to boil. 2. In a large heavy skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat and add yellow pepper. Cook, stirring often, until tender, 5 to 8 minutes. Add garlic, thyme and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds to a minute. 3. Add tomatoes, sugar and salt to taste, and turn up heat to medium-high. When tomatoes begin to bubble briskly and sputter, turn heat to medium. Cook, stirring often, until tomatoes have cooked down to a fragrant, thick sauce, about 15 minutes. Add olives, black pepper and basil, stir together, taste and adjust seasoning. 4. Heat oven to 176C. Oil a 2½- to 3-litre baking dish or gratin with olive oil. 5. When water in pot comes to a boil, salt generously and add rigatoni. Cook al dente, removing from the water 1 minute sooner than indicated in the package instructions. (Reserve some of the cooking water.) Transfer pasta to a large bowl. 6. If the tomato sauce seems very thick, thin out as desired with 2 to 4 tablespoons pasta cooking water. Scrape into bowl with pasta, add cheeses and toss well. Scrape into prepared baking dish. Drizzle remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over the top. Cover with foil. 7. Bake 25 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake another 5 to 10 minutes, until bubbly and beginning to brown in spots. Serve hot.