Gastronomous

Who can resist this tempting and classic comfort food? We adapted the fat and cholesterol laden version for a more modern, guilt- free one.  We used fresh tomato sauce, part skim mozzarella and chicken breast to give lovely flavors without the fat and cholesterol. If you would like a vegetarian version, replace the chicken with quartered white mushrooms.

Ingredients:( makes 6-8 servings)

 I box ziti or penne

2 cups fresh tomato sauce

1 clove garlic, finely minced

1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella

1 cup of cooked chicken breast, chopped or one can of chicken breast packed in water

2 Tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Freshly chopped basil and shredded Parmesan to taste

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Meanwhile, in a large pot, bring water with salt to a boil, add ziti and stir. Cook pasta for 7 minutes or till “al dente” . DO NOT OVERCOOK or you will have a mush of collapsed noodles .

Drain ziti and reserve 3 tbls of cooking water. Do not rinse. Place ziti in a large bowl and toss with the reserved water. Let absorb, then toss in the minced garlic, and salt and pepper to taste, mix and let rest for a minute. Then toss in the chopped chicken, mix, then sauce, and  mix .

In a large baking pan, rub the bottom and the sides with the olive oil, place the ziti mix and top with the mozzarella.  Bake for 15 minutes or till mozzarella melts.

Remove from the oven,  serve on plates, sprinkle with Parmesan and chopped basil. Enjoy!

This dish reheats very well . It can also be prepared ahead of time up to the oven part for a buffet.