Baked Ziti with Chicken

Summer Eating: Stage II



Here in Knoxville we're at the height of the summer vegetable season. The farmers' market is packed with growers, crops, and customers. The heat (101F here yesterday) hasn't scared anyone off — although the heat is exactly why I dislike gardening. But I can stand it for the 30 or so minutes it takes me to make my selections.

When the first summer crops, tomatoes, corn, squash, and so on, begin arriving I tend to keep my preparations simple so I can fully enjoy the individual flavors. Tomatoes get a some basil, lemon juice, and olive oil, corn is eaten on the cob, and squash is sautéed with olive and perhaps a few herbs. Covering up or even mixing up those fresh flavors that I've been craving for months seems sinful.

You can't lie about cooking. You either do it well or you don't. ~ Molly O'Neill

But as the summer wears on the novelty wears off and I start making gazpacho, cucumber soup, and vichyssoise. I'll sauté tomatoes, squash, and corn together with a dose of chipotle powder. Or I'll make that Southern favorite, squash and cheese casserole. These are still simple preparations that leave the fresh flavors intact, but the flavors are more complex. I may add a couple of anchovy filets to sautéed vegetables, and the cucumber soup contains curry powder.

One of my favorite dishes at this time of year is baked pasta. It's tremendously flexible and, although it requires some work, the leftovers are good for a couple of days of not cooking at all — so I consider it well-justified. In this particular case I chopped up tomatoes, a small zucchini, a small onion, and some red bell pepper to which I added chicken. But I've also made it with tomato, green beans, eggplant, and Italian sausage and various other combinations depending on what was available. The main key is to cook all the ingredients in advance till they're just under-done and then mix them and place in a casserole. Here's what I did this time.

Baked Ziti
Serves 6.

1/2 lb ziti
2 tbsp olive oil
2 lg. chicken breasts — cut into 3/4" cubes
1 sm. zucchini — cut into 1/2" dice
1 sm. onion — cut into quarters vertically and then sliced crosswise into 1/2" strips
1 sm. red bell pepper — cut into 1/2" x 2" strips
2 - 3 med. tomatoes — chopped & seeded (reserving seeds and pulp)
pinch crushed red pepper
2 cloves garlic — minced
3 sprigs fresh basil — chiffonade
1/2 c white wine
1/4 lb fontina — shredded
1/4 lb provolone — shredded
1/4 lb asiago — shredded
salt and pepper

Heat oven to 400F. Prep all ingredients.

Cook ziti according to package directions. Mix cheeses together.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Generously season chicken with salt and pepper, then lightly brown. Set aside. Add zucchini, onion, and bell pepper to skillet and cook until veggies begin to soften (you may need to. Add tomato pulp, garlic, and a pinch of crushed red pepper and cook another couple of minutes until most of the quid has evaporated. Turn veggies out onto a plate, return the skillet to the heat and add the wine. Deglaze skillet and reduce wine by half. Remove from heat.

Drain pasta and return to pot. Add chicken, veggies, wine, basil, and 3/4 of cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Turn out into a large casserole dish, sprinkle with remaining cheese, cover, and bake in center of oven for 15 minutes. Remove cover and bake another 15 minutes. Serve.

This may seem a bit complicated, but isn't. The complete prep only takes 35 - 40 minutes, the flavors are marvelously fresh with a nice subtle heat from the red pepper. And as I said, the leftovers are excellent. If you're cooking for a family, just double the quantities.

Technorati: Food | recipe | kevin weeks | seriously good | summer | veggies | pasta | main dish