We love hearty food in our house and I love to experiment with food. Bolognese Pasta bake is one of our favourites, second to Spaghetti Bolognese.
Im always trying to to get my family to eat different things and at least try different foods, they have a habit of eating the same stuff all of the time. One Sunday I had all intentions of making a mince dinner, nothing special just mince & onions, mash and veg and Yorkshire Puds. The only issue was it was after 4pm on a Sunday and I totally forgot to buy potatoes… cant have mash without potatoes! Neither of us could be bothered to go to the shop.
Improvised Cooking
So I thought I’d improvise with what we had. After a bit of googling I found Bolognese Pasta Bake recipes and knew those recipes wouldn’t go down well with my bunch, so I modified it slightly. Now I know they all love a bit of ‘spag bol’ so I made Bolognese Pasta Bake in the way I knew my family would like it. Heres my version of it, this is a hearty recipe and contains ALOT of cheese.
Bolognese Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 1kg minced beef
- 400g Pasta, either: Penne/Shell/Fusilli
- 500g Grated Cheddar Cheese
- 125g Mozzarella Cheese cubed (grated is just as good)
- 1 medium onion
- 2 garlic gloves / 2tsp garlic puree
- 2 large carrots
- Broccoli & Cauliflower florets
- 500g Passata sauce
- Seasoning: Salt, Pepper, Italian
- 1tblsp Plain Flour
- 2tblsp Oil (your choice: veg/sunflower/virgin/spray)
Instructions
- Loosely chop the onion and carrots into approx 1cm pieces.
- Add the oil to a deep pan on a medium heat.
- Add to the pan the Onion, Carrots and crushed/puree’d garlic and lightly fry for 5-10 minutes until the onions turn translucent.
- Break up the minced beef and add it to the pan.
- Add a little pepper and Italian seasoning and continue to fry until all of the mince is browned.
- Once the mince is browned sprinkle the flour over the contents of the pan and give it a good stir in, ensuring the flour has evenly coated. the flour absorbs the fats and helps thicken the sauce.
- Add the Passata Sauce, a little Salt, Pepper, and Italian seasoning (to your liking), and give a good stir ensuring its all well mixed.
- Add the Broccoli and Cauliflower florets (you may need to cut these smaller) and mix in.
- Turn the heat down to a simmer temperature and let it simmer for 40 mins, stirring occasionally.
- Heat oven to 200c/180c fan/gas 5
- Whilst the bolognese is simmering, boil the pasta
- Once the pasta is cooked, drain the pasta and mix together both the pasta and bolognese
- Spoon the Pasta Bolognese into a large oven dish and spread evenly
- Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top of the pasta bolognese and then add the mozzarella on top
- Bake in the center of the oven for 20 minutes or until the cheese is a golden brown colour
- Serve with garlic bread, tuck in, and enjoy!
Notes
For less servings simply reduce the ingredients. 500g of mince will serve 3-6 people.
I love bolognese and I love a pasta bake, this combo is just a winner on a plate. Thanks for sharing.
It’s definitely a top favourite in our house!