baked ziti

I am in love with homemade pasta.  In love.  This handy pasta attachment for my KitchenAid mixer is divine.  The texture of homemade pasta...the way it absorbs the flavors of the dish... mmmm....  and it is like playing with the play doh toys of my childhood.  And even cooler - it says in the manual to clean it up the next day.  Seriously.

I would have taken pictures of the process... because it really is so cool... {and remarkably quick and easy} but it goes so dang fast.  Like, i-wish-i-had-a-third-hand fast. 



And you wouldn't believe this recipe.  This is all that was left after only 3 people ate.  This was it.  I really think that this would be a good recipe with regular, store bought pasta... but if you could have homemade, I really think it made this dish extra wonderful...

To get the recipe, go here.  But I used regular black olives, and of course, I used homemade pasta {probably more than the amount it called for...in fact, I used the whole batch from the basic egg noodle recipe in the instruction manual}... and I mixed up the tomatoes with the pasta before I added the pasta mixture to the onions... and then I added a 14 oz. can of petite diced tomatoes {but you might not need to if you don't use homemade pasta}... and I transferred it to a 9 x 13 dish.  It really was delightful.

And a special thank-you to my mother-in-law who helped prep and then even did the dishes.  And was the one who gave me the fabulous pasta maker.  I am spoiled.