Oven-Baked Pasta and Tomatoes

Adapted from Rozanne Gold, The Gold Collection

8 ounces dried pasta (campanelle, fusilli or penne, rigatoni)
1/2 teaspoon salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for oiling casserole
1 (28 ounce) can tomatoes, the kind with garlic or basil or other seasonings
Parmesan

Make this when you're going to be hanging around the kitchen anyway because you soak the pasta in oil for half an hour and then attend to the casserole every 10 minutes 4 times.

Place pasta in a bowl. Sprinkle over salt and pepper. Pour in olive oil. Mix well and let sit 25 to 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly oil bottom and sides of a shallow casserole (a 10-inch square, 2-inch deep Corning casserole with cover is perfect). In the casserole mix tomatoes, sugar and 1/4 cup water with the pasta.

Bake, covered, for 10 minutes. Stir, cover and bake another 10 minutes. Stir in 1/4 cup water, cover and bake 10 minutes longer. Stir in 1/4 cup water, cover and bake 10 to 15 minutes, until pasta is tender.

Serve with Parmesan to sprinkle over.

Serves 4.

If you wish, put some uncooked Italian sausages in the oven, near the middle of the cooking time, in an oiled pan. Prick and turn the sausages and bake to an internal temperature of about 170 degrees F. Since the oven temperature is 400 degrees F, why not bake some potatoes for planned-overs at the same time? And muffins ...