Macaroni with Tomato Sauce and Goat Cheese

Surprisingly light and flavorful!

We used some of our last garden tomatoes to prepare the sauce. Blanched to remove the peels instead of running through a food mill, and the suggested 20 minutes was exactly right on for a nicely thickened sauce (it included garlic, salt, basil, and a pinch of sugar). You then add goat cheese and Parmesan (we substituted Pecorino), mix till cheese is melted, and toss with the pasta.

The mix is put into a baking pan, bread crumbs applied to the top, and baked (30 minutes).

We used elbow macaroni, and made a mistake by layering the tomato-cheese sauce instead of mixing. We also skipped the step of tossing the bread crumbs with oil, and opted instead to simply use the misto to put a very fine spray on top of the crumbs after they were on the pasta.

This dish elicited a rare second helping by me. It was prepared by my 17 yr old son. If you used canned tomatoes in place of fresh, it would be an easy meal for a teenager to put together.