It’s a hands-off, crowd-pleasing dinner.

Apparently, skipping the boiling water and tossing dried pasta with EVOO was all over the runways.

He was handsome and calm and good at… helicopters?

A split image of Alan Alda and a bowl of pasta in tomato sauce

Simply Recipes / Getty Images / Lauren Bair

(I didn’t see much of the show.)

He’s been making it ever since.

Rich and tangy tomatoes, plus grassy olive oil you could taste, and umami-packedParmigiano?

Overhead shot of ingredients for Alan Alda’s baked pasta

Simply Recipes / Lauren Bair

Get out of here.

This isn’t technically Alan’s recipe; It’s Giuliano Bugialli’s fromClassic Techniques of Italian Cooking.

Let’s make Alan’s Giuliano’s pasta.

Overhead shot of a baking dish with a pasta in tomato sauce

Simply Recipes / Lauren Bair

Alan suggests usingimported Italian pastaandtomatoes.

Or, that’s what I told myself as I loaded up my basket.

I used mezzi rigatoni, which is rigatoni but shorter (and cuter).

C’est la vie).

After 45 minutes, sprinkle your Parm on top and give it a final toss.

Then, “Serve immediately without adding extra cheese.”

(Is this humanly possible?

It’s so delicious as-is, the cheese truly is optional.