It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder (A Catering Hall Mystery) by Maria DiRico | Three Cheese Baked Rigatoni Recipe

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Astoria, Queens, is decorated within an inch of its life for the Christmas season, and Mia Carina is juggling her job at the Belle View catering hall with a case of murder . . .

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder (A Catering Hall Mystery)

by Maria DiRico

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It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Murder (A Catering Hall Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Kensington Cozies (October 26, 2021)
Mass Market Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages

Mia’s busy with a full schedule of events at the family business—among them an over-the-top Nativity-themed first birthday party and a Sweet Sixteen for a teen drama queen. But her personal life is even more challenging. Her estranged mother has returned—and her lifelong friend Jamie has discovered a shocking secret about his past. He’s so angry that he starts hanging out with Lorenzo, who claims to be his long-lost brother—even after it becomes clear that Lorenzo’s story is as fake as a plastic Christmas tree.

Then a body turns up among the elves in a Santa’s-workshop lawn display, and amateur sleuth Mia has a buffet of suspects to choose from. Amid the holiday celebrations, she intends to find out who’s the guilty party . . .

Italian recipes included!

Three Cheese Baked Rigatoni

Ingredients:

1 lb. ziti, cooked according to instructions
2 T. olive oil, divided
1⁄2 cup chopped onion
2-3 tsp. minced garlic (depending on how much you like garlic. If you love it, feel free to add more)
1⁄2 cup chopped basil
1 large can (28 oz.) diced tomatoes,
1 T Italian seasoning, plus 1 tsp. separated
1 can tomato sauce
1 T. tomato paste
2 cups part-skim mozzarella
1⁄4 oz provolone, thinly sliced
1⁄4 cup grated Parmesan Reggiano

Add a tablespoon of olive oil to a large, heavy pot, like a Dutch oven. Cook onion and garlic until the onion is translucent—a minute or two. Add the basil and cook for a minute. Then add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, Italian seasoning, and tomato paste. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to simmer. You can keep the sauce simmering while you make the pasta. Just make sure to stir it now and then.

While the rigatoni is cooking, preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook rigatoni according to package instructions for al dente pasta. Drain and add to the sauce pot. Stir to combine the pasta and sauce.

Transfer pasta mixture to a 9 x 13 baking dish.

Combine mozzarella, Parmesan, and 1 tsp. seasoning in a bowl. Cover the pasta with a layer of provolone, then spoon the mozzarella mixture on top of the provolone, spreading it out so it covers all the pasta.

Bake for approx. ten or fifteen minutes, until the cheese has fully melted. Serve immediately with fresh

Italian bread to sop up any leftover sauce.

Serves 6–8.

NOTE: Feel free to substitute your favorite type of pasta, like ziti or penne. Just make sure to cook whatever alternate you choose to its specific cooking time.

About Maria DiRico

Maria DiRico is the pseudonym for Ellen Byron, author of the award winning, USA Today bestselling Cajun Country Mysteries. Born in Queens, New York, she is first-generation Italian-American on her mother’s side and the granddaughter of a low-level Jewish mobster on her father’s side. She grew up visiting the Astoria Manor and Grand Bay Marina catering halls, which were run by her Italian mother’s family in Queens and have become the inspiration for her Catering Hall Mystery Series.

DiRico has been a writer-producer for hit television series like Wings and Just Shoot Me, and her first play, Graceland, appears in the Best Short Plays collection. She’s a freelance journalist, with over 200 articles published in national magazines, and previously worked as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart, a credit she never tires of sharing. A native New Yorker who attended Tulane University, Ellen lives in Los Angeles with her husband, daughter, and two rescue dogs.

Author Links – Website – Chicks on the Case – Facebook – Twitter –

Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo – IndieBound