“Alla gricia” is not the only way to enjoy this type of pasta: oven-baked rigatoni pasta with stringy mozzarella cheese, flavoured with bacon and herbs, is a delicious treat. The recipe is quick and easy and can solve many a meal-time dilemma, even on a weekday. Oven-baked pasta is one of the great traditions of Italian cuisine. When you serve up a dish of baked rigatoni with mozzarella, everyone will be happy and full of praise for your cooking skills. This dish is so simple to make that it is practically impossible to do anything wrong. The cheesy sauce makes this an ideal first course to serve for Sunday lunch. Then, if there is any left over, oven-baked rigatoni with mozzarella is even better the next day for lunch in the office.

Here’s how to make oven-baked rigatoni with mozzarella cheese.

Start by putting a pan of water on the heat to boil. In the meantime, chop up the mozzarella into fairly large pieces and leave it to drain in a sieve. Toss the chopped bacon in a fairly hot frying pan before adding the pureed tomato sauce and reducing the heat. Mix for as long as necessary and then season the ingredients, but remove from the heat as soon as the sauce starts to dry out. When the water comes to the boil, add salt, mix and throw in the rigatoni. At this point, put the oven on at a setting of 200°. Strain the rigatoni when they are still very “al dente” (still very firm to the bite), about half the cooking time indicated on the packet, and then pour the pasta into an oven dish greased with extra virgin olive oil. Dress the pasta with the tomato and bacon sauce, add a little oregano, thyme and just 20g of grated parmesan, finally add the mozzarella and give everything a stir. Sprinkle the pasta with the remaining parmesan cheese and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. If the pasta starts to brown excessively on top, cover with tinfoil.

What to drink with oven-baked rigatoni and mozzarella
With this oven-baked pasta dish, you may choose a Merlot D.O.C.: a dry red wine whose assertive bouquet has an aroma of blackberries and spicy notes. Warm and engaging, Merlot D.O.C. is also excellent with game, grilled meats, mature cheeses and cold cuts. Uncork your bottle of Merlot D.O.C. half an hour before serving.