Baked Tomato Macaroni

Yield: 8 main dish servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound large elbow macaroni, mostaccioli, or penne
• 1 cup good olive oil
• 9 to 12 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon crushed dried red chile pepper
• 1/4 cup dried basil, crumbled
• 3 tablespoons dried oregano, crumbled
• 3 (1 pound 12 ounce) cans tomatoes
• Grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Place dry pasta in a large bowl. Pour all of the olive oil over, toss well, and let sit for 1 hour.
2. Pour pasta into a strainer and drain off excess oil into a deep non-aluminum saucepan. Add the garlic, onion, sugar, chile peppers, basil and oregano. Heat over moderate heat until the oil gets very hot, about 10 minutes.
3. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.
4. Crush the tomatoes with your hands or a food processor fitted with the metal blade and add them and their juice to the saucepan.
5. Heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
6. Place the macaroni in a large non-aluminum roasting pan; pour room-temperature sauce over and stir well.
7. Bake uncovered in the center of the oven for 40 minutes, turning over with a spatula every 10 minutes, to ensure that all the pasta cooks evenly.
8. Serve with Parmesan cheese.