Rigatoni with Tomato-Ricotta Sauce

This is my first post for my new blog and I am so excited! I can't wait to share my food exploits with you, my readers and friends. Plus, I am hoping to get my recipes organized for my kids. They both want a recipe book for a Christmas gift. Great, right?! Both of my children love to cook and experiment with flavors in the kitchen. Looks like my food loving genes passed on to them.

I love food. I have always wrapped happy memories in with what was eaten during them. Birthday dinners and desserts, holiday food, good eats out with friends, places I have eaten with my husband during dates, and family dinners around the table enjoying those I love. Food is love. Food feeds us and brings us together. I love that.

For my first recipe, I will start with the most recent dinner I prepared for my family. It was a hit and I hope that you will try it and let me know what you think. I had large rigatoni, ricotta and basil on hand and wanted to find a great pasta dish. Good ol' Google never disappoints. I found this recipe from the Chicago Tribune. I changed it some - doubling it in order for leftovers and instead of cherry tomatoes, I sliced up fresh, vine ripened tomatoes.

Daniel and Lily gave this recipe an 8 out of 10. It's a nice vegetarian dish. I am thinking that if I add meat to the recipe, a mix of sweet and hot italian sausage would be a wonderful addition to this recipe.

If you try it, let me know what you think! Happy Cooking (and eating!!) -Ann

Rigatoni with Tomato-Ricotta Sauce

Servings: 8

1 pound rigatoni
3 large tomatoes, sliced
2 onions, sliced
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
Freshly ground pepper
15 oz carton, part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Heat a pan of salted water to a boil; heat the broiler. Cook pasta according to package direction.

Place tomatoes and onion on a foil-lined, broiler-safe pan; drizzle on the oil, and add the Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. Broil until tomatoes have curled and softened and onions are golden, 3-5 minutes. Remove pan from broiler; set aside.

Drain pasta, reserving about 1/2 cup of the hot water. Stir the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, into the ricotta until it reaches desired creamy texture. Place pasta in large bowl; toss with tomato-onion mixture. Add ricotta and basil, stirring just to combine. Add balsalmic vinegar; toss. Serve warm.