3 exciting pasta bakes for the whole family

Pasta bakes, traditionally cooked in the oven (al forno, or ‘to the oven’), have been the centrepiece of wholesome, home-cooked family suppers for hundreds of years. Whether you want to feed some ravenous children or simply use up leftovers in the fridge, this is a classic, hearty meal, with plenty of exciting variations. Here are three of our favourite renditions of this resourceful dish that will  hopefully be enough to keep the whole family full and happy. Buon appetito!

1. Cheesy pasta bake

For this recipe, we would strongly advocate for rigatoni. This type of pasta comes from the Italian ‘rigate’, which translates as ridged or lined, and is a regional favourite of Sicilians. Like penne, rigatoni is a cylindrical pasta, but it has deeper, more pronounced ridges and a larger circumference. As explained by Pasta Evangelists, rigatoni is incredibly versatile and perfect for capturing both chunky and creamy sauces. That makes it ideal for this pasta bake, where the cheese delightfully oozes into the pasta tubes, ensuring every bite is just as indulgent as the last.

Ingredients

• 450g rigatoni pasta
• 150g mozzarella cheese, grated
• 2 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 white onions, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 bunch basil
• 50g parmigiano reggiano
• 150g smoked pancetta, diced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt & pepper to taste

Method

1. Preheat your oven to 200ºC/400ºF.
2. For the sauce, heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a medium saucepan, and add your diced onions, pancetta and garlic. Cook for around five minutes until onions are golden brown and caramelised.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes, basil leaves, and season with salt and pepper. Lower the heat to medium-low, and slowly reduce, stirring occasionally for around 20-25 minutes until the sauce has thickened.
4. In a pot of boiling, salted water, cook your rigatoni halfway through according to packet instructions. This should take around 5-6 minutes.
5. To assemble the pasta bake in a baking dish, layer the tomato sauce on the bottom before adding the pasta, then more sauce, and then grated cheese. Repeat this until the tray is full.
6. Cover with foil, and bake until the cheese is all melted, bubbly and golden brown.

2. Chicken pasta bake

This recipe is far from authentic Italian cuisine. In fact, in Italy it is a faux-pas to combine chicken with pasta. At the risk of blasphemy, we think this is an utterly delightful combination and doubt that there will be many complaints at the dinner table.

Instead of large, tubular shapes, this dish uses pastina — small pasta. While the size can vary a lot, we’d recommend using farfalle which lends itself more easily to the sauce and has a wonderful, dexterous butterfly shape.

Ingredients

• 150g pastina pasta
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 140g chicken breast, cut into small cubes
• ½ onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes, with juice
• 120g shredded mozzarella
• 4 tbsp chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 4 tbsp breadcrumbs
• 4 tbsp grated Parmesan
• 1 tbsp butter, plus more for buttering the baking dish
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400ºC.
2. Bring a medium pot of heavily salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook halfway (around 5 minutes).
3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Place the chicken in the pan and cook for 3 minutes until browned off. Add the onions and garlic, stirring to combine, and sautée until both are soft and caramelised. When the chicken is white all the way through, transfer into a bowl along with your pasta, and mix together.
4. Add the canned tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, parsley, salt, and pepper, and stir. Layer the chicken and pasta mixture, and then the sauce, and repeat.
5. In a separate bowl, combine the breadcrumbs and parmesan. Sprinkle over the dish and put small dollops of butter on top.
6. Bake for about 30 minutes until the top is golden brown.

3. Meatball pasta bake

Juicy, seasoned meatballs are delectable enough on their own, but making them from scratch is a particularly enjoyable pastime for all the family. If you’re short on time, buying ready-made meatballs is totally fine too, but DIY style is well worth the effort.

Italian meatballs typically combine a mix of beef and pork, breadcrumbs, parmigiano, and an egg yolk. There are other variations though. as Pasta Grannies demonstrate, making theirs with spicy sausage instead of mincemeat, swapping the basil for parsley and using pecorino cheese.

If you’re keen to make your own meatballs, a handy trick to ensure they’re all equally-sized is to mix the ingredients together and form your balls with an ice cream scoop, and then use your hands.

Ingredients

• 400g dried pasta (we’d recommend rigatoni or fusilli)
• 1.2L passata
• Small bunch basil, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 100g shredded mozzarella cheese
• 50g grated parmigiano reggiano or pecorino cheese

The meatballs

• 400g minced beef (optional 200g each of beef and pork)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 30g grated Parmesan
• 2 tsp tomato puree
• 1 egg yolk, beaten

Method

1. For the meatballs, start by heating olive oil in a saucepan on medium and gently fry the onion and garlic until they are slightly softened.
2. In a bowl, add the minced beef, fried onions and garlic, cheese, dried oregano, tomato puree and beaten egg yolk. Season with salt and black pepper and mix well.
3. Form the meatballs using a scoop and then roll them between your palms (they should be roughly the size of a ping pong ball).
4. Heat another saucepan and pour in the passata and chopped basil, warming gently. Season to taste.
5. Lightly brown the meatballs by frying them for about 10 minutes, turning regularly and adding a little olive oil if necessary.
6. Cook the pasta according to packet instructions. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 200ºC.
7. Drain the pasta and stir in around two thirds of the tomato sauce. Mix well to coat.
8. Add the meatballs and stir together, then transfer to a baking dish. Pour in more tomato sauce, and scatter the cheese over the top.
9. Cook in the oven for 30 mins, then sprinkle over the fresh herbs.