The other night I was having a couple beers with my friend Rachel when she mentioned that she would be making ziti, and asked if I wanted one. I enthusiastically said yes, for several reasons: 1) I love free food, 2) Rachel is an outstanding cook, and 3) I love ziti. I'm not a big pasta eater, I have always found it relatively boring, but a baked ziti, with sausage and peppers and lots of cheese, is outstanding.I was at the store a couple days ago when Rachel called me and said she had just dropped off the ziti in my fridge. I thanked her and headed home, expecting to find a small dish, wondering if it would be big enough for both Elizabeth and me to eat for dinner. That was not a problem - the container was about 12 inches square and weighed at least ten pounds.
I took it out of the fridge and let it sit for a couple hours to warm up a little. I preheated the oven to 400 degrees and let it bake for a little over an hour. Elizabeth wanted some bread to go with it so we went to Vons and got a loaf of french bread - the freshest bread I have ever seen at a supermarket, by the way; it was still warm - while the ziti sat in the oven. We got home, cut up some bread, and spooned out the ziti.
It was probably the best I have ever had. Everything was perfect. The large pieces of tomato, one of my least favorite things, were so tender that I ate them and didn't think twice. Our friend Tracie came by to have Elizabeth try on a sweater she is knitting, and I gave her some, too. I called my brother to see if he was in the area and wanted some ziti. I considered wandering the neighborhood just giving away plates so other people could experience it, too.
The next morning I had some for breakfast and it was just as good.
I was eating free food at The Biggest Loser campus which was good, but not Rachel Ziti good from the looks of it. Thanks for the offer anyway.
ReplyDeleteThe ziti was awesome, but eating 4 pounds of pasta, sausage and cheese (the amount I ate may be off by a pound or two in either direction) would probably not be on the Biggest Loser's menu.
ReplyDeleteYour ELiz wanted some bread to go with her pasta?? Wasn't the Ziti enuf carbs & starch on its own!
ReplyDeleteThere is no such thing as too many carbs when it comes to her.
ReplyDeleteA pool of melted cheese is my favorite! :)I love it already...
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed it! Ziti is the first grown up meal I learned to cook (if Raman noodles and mac & cheese aren't considered grown up). And, when you make 1 ziti, you might as well make 2. You make 2, you might as well make 5. That's just how it goes.
ReplyDeleteLuckily, I have friends that like to indulge in a mound of pasta and sausage smothered in cheese!
Hello. You have other members of your family who would love Rachel's baked ziti and have been known to eat left-overs.
ReplyDelete