A delicious make-ahead baked penne pasta
This dish, this pasta, is delicious and has many emotional ties to it, as food often does. It was on the cover of Bon Appetit Magazine in February 1995. I remember it because our friend and neighbor brought us over two large servings one night back in 1995. We had actually just met after having both moved into our brand-new homes on a cul-de-sac in Laguna Niguel, California. We lived next door to each other for four wonderful years before we relocated to Northern Virginia. We arrived in February, and Patrick was born in April. A new friend from McLean, VA, whom we had only met a month or so before Patrick was born, brought us dinner one night. The same pasta! We couldn’t believe it. Two friends in two completely different places and four years apart brought us the same dinner. So when I make this dish, I can’t help but think of the kindness of two friends, Dana in California and Susan in Virginia.
ingredients: tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil, crushed red pepper, cheese & penne pasta
Parmesan & Havarti Cheese
sauté the onion, garlic and add the dried basil and crushed red pepper
Add the tomatoes and cook for an hour stirring often
Penne with Tomatoes and Two Cheeses, recipe adapted from Bon Appetit
PrintPenne with Tomatoes and Two Cheeses
This dish can be made ahead. It’s best to bring to room temperature before baking or bake for slightly longer and cover with foil at the end so it does not burn. Add a little more freshly grated parmesan and fresh basil just before serving.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour + 35 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 55 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Ingredients
- 3 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes
- 2 small or one large onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons dried basil
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 1 pound penne pasta
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 8 ounces Havarti Cheese
- 1 cup grated parmesan, plus extra for serving
- 1/3 cup sliced Kalamata olives
Instructions
- Dice the onion and saute in olive oil for about six or seven minutes.
- Add the garlic, stirring to make sure the garlic does not burn. Add the dried basil, crushed red pepper and salt and pepper.
- Add the three cans tomatoes, drained. Stir often and let cook for about an hour.
- Meanwhile, cook the penne pasta in salted water just until cooked al dente. Slightly undercooked is better. Drain and then put back into pot and mix in about a tablespoon of olive oil.
- Add the tomato and onion mixture and stir.
- Mix in the grated Havarti Cheese and sir to mix. Pour into a prepared baking dish that has been buttered and top with the grated parmesan.
- Bake uncovered for about 25 to 30 minutes in a 375 degree oven.
Keywords: baked pasta, pasta, make ahead
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How sweet that they both made this for you! It looks delicious!
This looks delicious and I love that you shared the story behind the pasta. Many of my favorite meals have been with or from our good friends from everywhere we have lived over the years. Have a great day!
It is so wonderful to receive (or bring!) a meal from a friend or neighbor. Your pasta dish looks delicious. Those olives are a funny thing. Around here, three love ’em and two say, no thank you! Thanks for sharing your recipe.
What a beautiful story, you always attract good people from coast to coast!! Love the Welcome Home to Madeline!
This pasta dish is my kind of comfort food! I’m about ready to cave in on day 9 of a 12 day cleanse!
I’ll take it anyway you dish it out! Happen to love olives, but boy does that look yummy!
What a nice welcome home treat.
pve
I’ll leave them in for you Patrica!
Wow! That looks great. I think I’m going to try to make it tonight for dinner! Thanks for posting it!
The original recipe calls for some broth. Your recipe omits the broth and still says to drain the tomatoes. Is this correct? Thanks!
The original recipe calls for some broth. Your recipe omits the broth and still says to drain the tomatoes. Is this correct? Thanks a lot!
HI,
I originally added the chicken broth, but then when you cook it for an hour or so it just cooks out, so eventually I stopped adding it. I use diced tomatoes and drain them, but they still have a lot of juices when I add them to the onions and there’s still plenty of liquid. I’ve made it so many times and it has always been a success….I would not want to steer you wrong!
annie
Thanks you so much! I’m just about to drain the tomatoes and then add them. So far it smells delicious!
Anne
Hi Anne,
I sure hope you liked the pasta dish!
annie
It was great! We all enjoyed it. Thank you!
Anne
So interesting the addition of Havarti! I will have to try this!
Oh, this sounds absolutely delightful. I’ll definitely have to add the ingredients to my grocery list this week.
Annie! I have made this dish FOREVER!!! So funny that it’s a staple of yours as well…xo
Mmmm! This looks delicious! Pasta is total comfort food for me. This dish looks very easy and I think I have everything I need in the house already. Yay! Thanks for posting this delicious recipe! : )
I’m making this dish this weekend Annie – it looks so good! And how special for it to have meaning to you and your family. Thanks so much for sharing.
That is such an amazing story — and I am now craving this pasta…in fact I have everything except the havarti, I’m going to rummage through my cheese drawer now and see what I can rustle up, looks wonderful Annie!
Hi Annie! I made this again tonight. It’s so delicious and yet pretty simple. I’ve made it without the Havarti and still so good.
Hi Holly! So nice of you to leave a comment! I just made it last week and froze half for a future weeknight dinner! Hope you are enjoying the beautiful fall season!
xo
annie
I love an Annie shared recipe!
22 years later, he still claims it was the best thing I ever made him💕
Jen, I think you better make it again! I do love it! My entire family does! I make one and drop it off at my son’s apartment every few months!
This looks delish! Going to try it this week. Yum!
How many ounces are the cans of tomatoes. 15 oz. Or 28 oz.
Hi Judy! It’s three 28-ounce cans of diced tomatoes. Sorry about that!
annie