Tie Dye Baked Rigatoni
Some of our favorite NYC pizzas are known as the Tie Dye or MVP (Marinara Vodka, Pesto) pizzas which we love from Rubirosa, Joe & Pat’s, and Marinara Pizza. So why not make it into pasta form? Here’s our recipe for an easy baked pasta and while we did make the pesto homemade - you don’t need to and you can use jarred marinara and vodka sauce.
Ingredients
1 Box of pasta, we prefer rigatoni
½ jar of marinara sauce
½ of vodka sauce (both sauces can be homemade if that’s preferred)
2 cups fresh basil leaves
¼ cup olive oil
½ toasted pine nuts
2-3 garlic cloves
1 lemon
½ grated parm and/or pecorino
1-2 blocks of fresh mozzarella, half cubed and half sliced
Salt & pepper to taste
Recipe
Start by toasting your pine nuts and garlic cloves on a pan or in the oven until slightly golden brown, 5 minutes
Add to a blender with basil, olive oil, juice of ½ a lemon, half of the grated parm or pecorino and slowly add olive oil until desired consistency, season with salt and pepper to taste
Now boil your pasta water, the water should taste like the sea so salt accordingly
Drain pasta and add half of your marinara and vodka sauce, mix in
Add in cubed mozzarella and pour into baking dish then liberally top with sliced mozzarella
Bake or broil at 400 degrees for 5-10 minutes until cheese is bubbly and brown
Now layer on your sauces diagonally to make a patter, marinara, vodka, then pesto sauce top with remaining grated cheese
Broil for 5 more minutes until sauce is bubbly
Enjoy and get ready for a cheese pull!
