Pastabake

[gingajewel]

Sorry i know its a boring one but please can i have your pasta bake recipes. I can cook pasta, i have no clue with a pasta bake! Do you cook the pasta first? Do you put in a shop bought sauce? Do you cook the ingredients first? What do you put in there? Help me please!

Following

I love the homepride creamy tomato and herb pasta bake, the instructions are on the jar it's really easy! But if I'm being healthy I make my own from scratch as follows..

1. Cook the pasta first separately
2. In a frying pan fry garlic and chilli
3. Add one carton of passata to the garlic and chilli along with some frozen spinach
4. Mix in the pasta with the sauce, put in the bake dish, sprinkle with cheese and oven bake for 15-20 minutes

The one I do is basically - cook pasta, add homemade sauce which is pretty much a standard bolognese sauce, mix pasta and sauce together, grate cheese on the top, put in oven for about half an hour. Not fancy, but tasty.

Cook some sort of short pasta eg penne, mix with leftover homemade bolognese sauce (I've usually got some in the freezer. Sometimes I cook some extra veg eg small broccoli florets or soya beans in with the pasta. Top with cheese - usually cheese and some Parmesan..

Cook pasta, put in ovenproof dish, mix in can drained tuna, some peas, some sweetcorn, can condensed mushroom soup and a little water - bake for about 25 to 30 minutes or until piping hot.

Another variation: Cook pasta, put in oven proof dish, mix in cooked chicken, cooked chopped bacon or ham, can condensed chicken soup and a little water and top with a good sprinkle of cheese - bake for 20 minutes in oven or until piping hot and cheese is browned and bubbly.

Cook pasta, save pasta water (put a mug under your colander)

Brown chopped peppers in the bottom of a dry pan, add olive oil, chopped red onion, drained tinned tuna, olives, a tin of chopped tomatoes, a bit of saved pasta water, a bit of grated mozzarella & a jar of red pesto sauce. Season

Heat through.
Pour over pasta, mix through, top with a mix of cheese,grated bread crumbs & pine nuts & bake for about 30 minutes

Cook pasta, fry onions, mushrooms, peppers and courgette with a load of garlic and herbs. Mix into cooked pasta with tinned toms, (I also add chickpeas) put into oven dish, load of cheese on top and bake until bubbling through.

I make a large pot of “mac’n’cheese”, freeze leftovers, thaw, throw in an ovenproof dish, top with grated cheese and bake in hot oven for 20-25 minutes.

Mac n cheese is:
1 pot - boil pasta shapes to al debate (still a tiny bite to the texture).
Large bowl - chopped veggies not needing cooking (frozen petite pois, chunks of

I’ve never ever cooked the pasta before it goes in the oven! I just throw a cup of water over the dish and it is so much tastier, means that the pasta absorbs all the flavours of the dish

Red pepper, chunks of cooked ham or chicken if using etc)

1 pan: start by frying bacon lardons in a pan with no oil (if using ) and use that fat for other frying - after that, fry diced onion, sliced garlic, sliced mushrooms etc - once each item is cooked, remove it from pan to the large bowl before starting the next.

1 small pot - make a white sauce using cornflour roux rather than flour, once thickened, add lots of grated cheese and a good grind of black pepper

Once all cooked, I tend to drain pasta and throw back into large pot, throw in bowl of meat and veg to stir through, and then after that, pour in cheese sauce and have a further good stir.

Oops, just realized the first half somehow posted - I often add sliced couriered to pasta shortly before it finishes cooking to cook that too.

Hope it all makes sense

Make a sauce by frying an onion and clove of garlic and add a jar of passata. Herbs if you want it have any. Cook for 15 minutes.

Half cook pasta , layer it in a dish, add the sauce, scatter cheese, cook for 45 minutes.

Obviously you can vary it eg with veg added or ham or whatever.

My favourite meal & pasta bake is one my mum’s been making for ages;

6 fresh tomatoes (normal size - I usually get on the vine)
125g mozzarella (though I usually put 250g in)
50 g grated Parmesan
Olive oil
Salt, pepper
1 tbsp oregano
Garlic

1. De-skin and chop tomatoes
2. Boil 375g fusilli pasta until al dente
3. Pour 2-3 tbsp of oil into a separate pan. Add the chopped tomatoes & garlic to taste. Leave to simmer for 5 mins.
4. Add mozzarella, Parmesan, salt, pepper & tablespoon of oregano. Mix and leave to simmer for another 5 mins until the cheese is all melted & the mixture looks creamy.
5. Drain pasta, mix with the cheese/tomato and pour into oven proof dish.
6. Put the bake in the oven at ~200c for 5 to 10 mins until some of the pasta starts to crisp 😋

Serves 4 (or 2 if you’re greedy like me & my DP)

The homepride pasta bake is my hangover food! No preparation, 40 mins in oven to carby, cheesey goodness.

I love the idea of adding chunks of cooked chicken..

I always put too much pasta in so the top becomes all over cooked and crusty, yum!

I love chunks of gouda stirred through a pasta bake, so you find lovely gooey cheesey bits.

Home pride.

With extra cheese stirred in, bacon and sometimes even some baked beans stirred through.

Like cheesy full English pasta. With lots of buttered toast.

Or with all the veg chucked in and maybe some tuna, plenty of cheese on top. There's something particularly magic about home pride tomato and herb pasta bake with green beans, broccoli and pasta twists and lots of mature cheddar on top. Great with sausages too.

If homepride go bust i would shed a few tears

Make a tomato sauce - just lots of fresh tomatoes chopped and cooked for ages with garlic, basil, oregano , sugar and a splash of balsamic. Cook pasta. Mix together and add slices of pepperoni and chopped mozzarella (the fresh stuff). Cover with grated mozzarella ( the plastic stuff) and bake

Mine is different, I use gnocchi which I put into salted boiling water for a little while, strain and put in an ovenproof dish.
Cover it with chopped spring onions, sliced or chopped fresh tomatoes and whatever else is available, tuna, peppers, courgettes, chopped ham, herbs...
Top with sliced mozarella, lots of it, drizzle of olive oil and some black pepper and bake it.

Much nicer than sauces from a jar if you have the time. No added sugar or palm oil either.

The homepride creamy tomato and herb is just better than any recipe I have is the thing, I'm not an awful cook either.

Served it up once to a group of friends who ended up back at ours as we just had nothing else in- never had such enthusiastic comments . Gave up making my own after that, I know when I'm beat. We add mushrooms or some spinach or peas/sweetcorn and cheese. Hello kindred homepride spirits!

I cook the pasta separately, chop up two packs of smoked bacon and fry, throw in two jars of creamy tomato and bacon sauce (Aldi’s is lovely) and stir. Mix with the pasta.

Put a layer of the pasta in the bottom of your dish and then a few slices of mozzarella then more pasta and repeat until the fish is full. Top with more mozzarella and Parmesan and bake.

It’s fit

Mary Berry does a lovely pasta bake, we have it quite a bit at weekends. Make it in the morning and then just cook it whenever you want.
Here.