Rigatoni in Tomato Sauce in a Parmesan Basket – Gluten-free version

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Pasta Serving Basket

1. 1
   Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F) and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

   ⚙ Preheating the OvenOvenBaking panParchment paper

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
2. 2
   Sprinkle 1 oz of the parmesan into a thin, even round 18 cm across, and make 4 rounds (two in each pan) this way.

   Baking pan
3. 3
   Bake 6 up to 7 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and the edges are light golden.

   ⚙ BakingOvenBaking pan

   💡Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.
4. 4
   Take out, wait 30 seconds and lift each round with a spatula. Lay it right away over an upturned small bowl and press gently so it takes the shape of a basket. After 2 minutes it hardens and can be lifted off.

   Silicone spatulaBowl

For the Tomato sauce

1. 5
   Heat the olive oil in a wide pot over medium-low heat.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStoveWide, shallow pot
2. 6
   Add the onion and fry 6 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 7
   Add the garlic and chili and fry 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.
4. 8
   Add the tomato paste and stir about a minute, until fragrant.

   Stove
5. 9
   Add the tomato paste and stir about a minute, until fragrant.

   ⚙ SimmeringStove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.

For the Cooked pasta

1. 10
   Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water (4¼ cups of water and a heaping teaspoon of salt for every 4 oz of pasta), following the package directions (taste about 2 minutes early), until al dente.

   ⚙ Cooking in salted waterStovePot

   💡The water should taste like a seasoned soup, not like sea water: a heaping teaspoon of salt per liter. Add the salt once the water is boiling.
2. 11
   Reserve ½ cup of the cooking water before draining.

   ⚙ Saving the cooking waterLadleorMeasuring cup

   💡The cooking water is starchy: a spoonful or two binds the sauce to the pasta or the gnocchi and makes it glossy.
3. 12
   Drain.

   Colander

To assemble

1. 13
   Transfer the pasta straight into the sauce with some of the cooking water and cook together 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the butter, until the sauce is glossy and clings to the pasta.

   Stove
2. 14
   Set each basket on a plate, fill with pasta, sprinkle with the Parmesan and lay a chive stem on top.