Everyone loves a good cheesy pasta bake, am I right? This one has a beautiful tomato sauce that will be mixed with cooked pasta and placed in the baking tray on top of which you will dollop a beautiful ricotta mixture that will just melt away…absolutely heavenly! You could use your favorite jarred tomato sauce although I always highly recommend making your own from scratch because it tastes so much better!
Recipe is for 4-6 people
Ingredients:
For the tomato sauce:
- 8 ripe tomatoes, peeled & finely chopped (you can use a food processor)
- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and left whole
- 1 teaspoon dried origano
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
- A pinch of dried chilies, optional
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 500 gr of short shaped pasta (penne, fusilli etc…)
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the ricotta mix:
- 2 cups ricotta
- 1 cup grated parmigiano
- 1/2 cup grated mozzarella
- Pinch of nutmeg
- A handful of fresh basil, finely chopped
- 1 egg yolk
- Salt and pepper to taste
To Finish:
- 1 cup grated mozzarella
Method:
- Start by making the ricotta mixture. Very simply add all the ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine. Place covered in the fridge till needed.
- For the tomato sauce in a cold saucepan add the extra virgin olive oil, chilies (if using) and the garlic. Turn on the heat on low and let the garlic infuse the oil watching very closely as the garlic should not brown.
- Once garlic is fragrant, around 2-3 minutes, turn up the heat on medium and carefully add the tomatoes, sugar, origano, salt and pepper. Once it comes to a boil turn the heat back down and let it gently simmer for around 30 minutes adding a bit of water if necessary.
- In the meantime cook your pasta. Cook it a bit less then al dente (follow packet instructions) , reserve about 2 cups of pasta water and drain.
- Turn on your oven on 200C
- Take the garlic cloves out of the sauce and smash them into a paste with a fork and drop it back into the sauce. Add a cup of pasta water and the pasta to the sauce and mix well. Turn the heat off and place all the pasta in your baking tray.
- Using a spoon drop dollops of the ricotta mix all over the top of your pasta.
- Top everything with shredded mozzarella and place in the oven for around 20-25 minutes or until a nice golden crust forms on top.
- Scatter it with basil leaves and serve immediately, yammmmm!!!
Buon Appetito!