My first baked ziti

One coworker came screaming to my desk about what would I make for the pot luck. I thought to myself, "why have I been afraid to make something besides beef Bourgognon?" Someone else was going to make a beef stew, so I decided to take it to the vegetarian realm while focusing on my roots.

So yeah, I've just baked my first two pans of ziti. I have no idea whether they'll be good. Making that much sauce that fast and still running out reminded me how long it had been since I'd made a red sauce. It tasted way too much like a pizza sauce, less so the second round but it still didn't make me feel like I'd done a great job.

They look yummy. They look like an entire tub of whole milk ricotta and a jar of shredded Parmesan. They make not be crusty enough. They still look fine and I hope no one dislikes them. They took two hours of solid work, not to mention the shopping and the second trip to the store for a can opener.

Now that I've made them, I've thought about how I'd like to improve. I want to readdress how I make a red sauce -- it tasts too much like kiddy sauce. It doesn't taste like gramma's enough.

I am exhausted. Thank heavens I'm not trying to make the bagniorole (the big mound of meatballs).

All that food makes me want to run away from tomatoes.