Celebrity Recipe Scored
Stanley Tucci-Style Baked Pasta
Rigatoni folded into a simple tomato sauce, layered with mozzarella and Parmesan, and baked until golden. The kind of Sunday pasta Tucci is known for.
Short Answer
This is a faithful home version of the kind of baked pasta Stanley Tucci is known for: rigatoni cooked just shy of al dente, tossed in a simple tomato sauce, layered with torn mozzarella and Parmesan, and baked until golden and bubbling. It serves six and comes together in under an hour.
About this dish
Tucci's love of unfussy Italian-American cooking is well documented, and baked pasta is its purest expression: a handful of good ingredients, treated with respect, and finished in the oven. This version keeps the sauce simple so the pasta and cheese do the talking. It reheats beautifully, which makes it a genuine weeknight workhorse, not just a Sunday showpiece.
If you like this, his zucchini parmesan follows the same philosophy, and our take on whether pasta is ultra-processed is worth a read before you reach for a jar of sauce.
Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 lb rigatoni or ziti
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
- 12 oz fresh mozzarella, torn
- 1 cup grated Parmesan
- A handful of fresh basil leaves
Method
- Heat the oven to 375F and lightly oil a large baking dish.
- Boil the pasta in well-salted water until just under al dente, about two minutes short of the package time, then drain.
- Warm the olive oil in a pan, soften the onion for five minutes, add the garlic for one minute, then stir in the crushed tomatoes and oregano. Simmer ten minutes and season with salt and pepper.
- Toss the drained pasta with the sauce and half of the mozzarella and Parmesan.
- Spread the pasta in the baking dish and scatter the remaining mozzarella and Parmesan over the top.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until bubbling and golden on top.
- Rest for ten minutes, then tear fresh basil over the top before serving.
More pasta to cook
Related reading
Frequently asked questions
Short, ridged shapes like rigatoni, ziti, or penne hold sauce best and keep their bite through baking. Cook them just under al dente so they finish in the oven without going soft.
Yes. Assemble it, refrigerate, and bake when needed, adding a few minutes since it starts cold. It also reheats well, which makes it ideal for meal prep.
Stir in cooked Italian sausage, ground turkey, or white beans, or serve it next to a simple grilled chicken breast. Score the finished dish to see exactly where it lands.
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