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Pasta Tahdig



When I first saw this recipe in the NYTimes I knew I had to make it. It sounded so simple and I love when I make pasta al forno and the pasta gets all crusty. This sounded similar to that crusty-ness but a lot more of it.

Pasta Tahdig (Adapted from the NYTimes)

1lb spaghetti
2 c homemade tomato sauce
1 c parmesan cheese (grated)
olive oil

Cook pasta until al dente. Drain and add back to pot. Mix with 2T olive oil, tomato sauce and parmesan cheese. Heat a 10" skillet. Add 3T of olive oil. Add pasta. Press it down with a spatula. You want it to form a dense cake-like blob. Brown for 20 minutes. Be sure to move the spatula under to ensure it's not sticking every few minutes. Add more oil as necessary. The oil should be bubbling a bit up the sides. Carefully drain off the oil. Using a pizza pan (or other flat surface such as a pot lid), flip the pasta cake out of the skillet. Put the drained oil back into the pan and slide the pasta cake back into the skillet. Again brown for 20 minutes, using the spatula to ensure it isn't sticking and adding oil as necessary.  Flip onto serving platter and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Serve warm or room temperature. Slice with a serrated knife.

Delicious! It is so simple - so few ingredients and yet so tasty. I used my regular homemade tomato sauce - nothing really fancy but simple to make. I was a little hesitant and thought that I was not going to be able to flip this thing, but after the 20 minutes, it does rather hold together. Just be sure that you keep checking that it's not sticking. I can definitely see that this is going to be a regular dinner for us.

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