Rigatoni Al Forno (Baked Rigatoni) with Roasted Asparagus and On
photo by Marla Swoffer
- Ready In:
- 30mins
- Ingredients:
- 10
- Serves:
-
4-5
ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3 cups chopped onions, in large chunks
- 3⁄4 lb rigatoni pasta (or similar tube-shaped pasta)
- 1 lb asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces
- 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
- 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- fresh ground black pepper
- 1⁄3 cup grated parmesan cheese
- 1⁄2 cup breadcrumbs
- extra balsamic vinegar, for passing
directions
- Preheat oven to 375°; put a large pot of water on to boil.
- Pour olive oil into a 9x13 glass baking dish; break up onion chunks, add to pan and stir to coat in oil; leave pan uncovered, place in oven and roast onions 5 minutes.
- Add pasta to boiling water.
- After onions have roasted 5 minutes, add asparagus; stir and sprinkle with the salt; spread it all in a single layer and roast 5 more minutes.
- Drain pasta when al dente; stir into vegetables and add vinegar, pepper and parmesan; mix well; sprinkle bread crumbs on top; cover with foil and return to oven.
- Bake until bread crumbs are brown and crisp, 10-15 minutes.
- Serve hot with a cruet of balsamic vinegar.
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Reviews
-
I just discovered a version of this recipe in my cookbook collection (Mollie Katzen's Vegetable Heaven), despite having it for nearly 7 years. This is a magical blend, where the whole is much greater than the parts. I love its subtlety, its nutty chewiness, its simplicity. I've been dreaming about it! I mixed the breadcrumbs (fresh) with a splash of olive oil before baking. I also was a bit liberal with the olive oil and balsamic, and also added some garlic to the onions, and roasted the vegetables longer than stated. So good! Worth a try! 5 STARS!
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This was good, but the flavor was a little subtle for our tastes, even with the additional vinegar at the table. But adding butter substitute (Smart Balance) and extra parmesan perked it up. I'd recommend this as a side dish unless meat is added to it, because it's not very filling unless you eat a lot of it.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
sugarpea
Snohomish, WA
I’m a former interior designer and landscape designer. At the moment I get to enjoy being at home and working only when I want to. I like rollerblading, hiking, backpacking and trips to the ocean. I grew up on a farm in the Midwest and moved to the Northwest when I was thirty, over twenty years ago. I’m afraid they’ll have to bury me here in WA. This is God’s country and I’m never leaving.
I have a smallish collection of cookbooks, preferring to use the library and a copy machine. Among my favorites though, are: Recipes 1-2-3, by Rozanne Gold, a collection of recipes containing no more than 3 ingredients (excepting water, salt and pepper); A Treasury of Great Recipes, by Mary and Vincent Price, recipes collected from friends and chefs of great restaurants around the world; The Mediterranean Diet Cookbook, by Nancy Harmon Jenkins, about a collection of cuisines I’m convinced are the healthiest in the world and The Low-Calorie Gourmet, by Pierre Franey.
Currently my passions are our dogs, the garden, cooking, the natural world and of course, Dh. I can now add Zaar to that list of passions (translate: addiction). We have three dogs, two rescued and one adopted. They are Sugarpea, a Golden Retriever, Chickpea, a Llasa Apso and Sweetpea, a Shih Tzu; small, medium and large. We’re quite a sight out on the trail. One of the things I am most fond of about living here is the ability to vegetable garden year ‘round.