Name: Baked Rigatoni With Red Peppers and Green Olives
Cook time: 55 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 15 minutes
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil; 1 medium onion, finely chopped; 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced; 1 (16-oz.) jar roasted red peppers, drained, finely chopped (about 1¾ cups); 1 tsp. Diamond Crystal or ½ tsp. Morton kosher salt; Freshly ground black pepper; 1 cup green olives, smashed, pits removed; 2 Tbsp. double-concentrated tomato paste; ¼ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes; 1 (14-oz.) can whole peeled tomatoes; 1 lb. rigatoni, penne, or ziti; Kosher salt; 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter; 2 tsp. finely chopped oregano; 2 oz. Parmesan, finely grated, divided; 1 lb. fresh mozzarella, torn into bite-size pieces, divided; Handful torn basil leaves (for serving)

A pan of cheesy pasta baked rigatoni with cacciatore sauce.

Photo by Joseph De Leo, Food Styling by Kaitlin Wayne

This baked pasta is based on my favorite pizza topping combination: peppers and olives. Here you build a tomato sauce bulked up with jarred roasted red peppers and studded with briny green olives, then toss it with tubular pasta and lots of mozzarella cheese that goes crisp on top and very cheesy-pully in the middle in the oven.

This recipe uses the same red pepper and olive sauce as my One-Pot Spiced Shrimp and Rice—to make both dishes, double the sauce before proceeding.