Cooking Question: Baked Ziti

[rubyslippers]

Hello, I do not know if anyone is going to have time to check the boards today; however, I have a quick cooking question for everyone. I traditionally make baked-ziti for dinner on Christmas Eve. The way our schedule is running paired with the time we are trying to go to church services it appears I need to make this (or at least get it started in advance). I am thinking about cooking the noodles, adding the sauces, tossing in the veggies and cheeses, and placing them in casserole dishes in advance. Then, when I get home from church, I can refresh them with a little spritz of water and/or dash of olive oil and add the topping covering them with aluminum foil to re-heat. Then, I can just brown-up the topping. Does this sound reasonable. I hate gummy pasta; so, I rarely make this in advance, but I am going to have to this year. Wish me luck! If you have any advice, please let me know.

Thanks!

Jenny

[ChapterTwo]

Hi Jenny,

I'm afraid this is going to be too late for you...what I do is cook the pasta extremely "al dente", so that reheating doesn't make the noodles mushy.

For Thanksgiving, I made veggie lasagna for those of use who are vegetarians, and I just parboiled the veggies, and assembled/cooked the whole thing so when I reheated, they'd cook the rest of the way.

Anyway...I'm sure this is a moot point by now.
Merry Christmas and I hope all went well!

[rubyslippers]

You are right ... I am reading this following my meal. However, I think your description helped me make some decisions. First of all, everything turned out well. The pesto pasta was almost perfect. However, the tomato pasta was a little too moist. In the future, I will need to cook the pasta for separate amounts of time.

Basically, I leaned toward al dente, but not EXTREME al dente - - Chapter Two - - that is exactly what I "should've done" so-to-speak. Because the pesto doesn't add a ton of moisture, it worked perfectly. However, I could have almost cooked the ziti in the tomato pasta merely risking a few crunchy spots. I like to use a technique known as straw & hay pasta (simply blending the white and whole wheat pasta) making the whole thing a little more substantial. I do meatballs in a casserole pan separately to cater to appropriate food desires.

Anyway, everyone left stuffed and happy. Plus, I got to show off the new bathroom this evening. We only had six people; however, that is about all my little cottage can hold in a family-dining style. We had to pop the little leaves out of the table and everything.

Travel safely and to all a good night. Enjoy the holiday with your families.

Every best wish,


Jenny

[ChapterTwo]

Hi Jenny - I'm so glad your meal went well (and that you could proudly show off your bathroom! ;) )

Whatever your plans, I hope you enjoy today. Merry Christmas!

ChapterTwo

[darkfalllover]

i agree with you,i like this forum