Pasta bake mistake

[lovehearrrts]

I assumed dolmio pasta bake worked the same was as home pride and you mixed the sauce with dry pasta then in the oven.

Apparently not.

It's all mixed with pancetta and already in the oven. Then I re read the jar.

Will it still work?

I've covered it with foil because it will take longer if it works, so it doesn't burn.

Annoyed 😂

Ha no worries it was just if you happened to know. I think there's probably a market out there for a recipe site that provides an energy efficiency rating!

Not smash, no partly because we couldn't say it that easily, but in France we have mousline, you add milk and water I think, isn't that the same as smash?

1 tin sweetcorn (and brine)
1 tin tomato soup
1 tin tuna
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1 sieve full of pasta (like for sifting flour)
1 or 2 handfuls of frozen peas
mix it up
season to taste
cover loosely in foil
bake at 160 ish for 30 ish mins

my DC love this. Easy storecupboard recipe.

I never knew you could use dry pasta for this as I always thought the pasta would be too dry or crunchy. Maybe I should try it with precooked ready made pasta and chuck that in instead of the usual dry pasta.

I did this by accident too a month ago, added a bit of extra water and cooked it for longer and it was hideous. Half of the pasta was teeth breakingly crunchy, half just claggy and horrible, good luck with yours!

I did the exact same thing the other day! No way was I cooking the pasta and then also baking it😂

It was fine actually.

Took about 45 minutes and the water disappeared and the sauce was still ok.

Ended up a little less saucy than usual probably because it was in the oven longer but it was still tasty, and the pasta cooked through till it was soft.

I'm another who has just learned you don't need to cook the pasta first!

I have to say I've not used jarred sauce since university, I prefer to cook a quick tomato sauce from scratch. But now, 20 years and two kids later, I reckon it's a brilliant idea for a midweek meal. Especially when my toddler gets super clingy just when I need to start making dinner.

Sometimes when you come rushing in at 4:30 with kids hanging out of your arse it's necessary to just throw something together and get it in the oven asap!

Belatedly coming back to this thread because I was busy. I was making a home-made lasagne for our dinner! (Genuinely, I'm not joking!)

The (lighthearted) point I was making was that to me buying a jar for pasta bake is meant to be a quick and easy meal, so it irrationally annoys me to have to do it in two steps. I never claimed it was comparable to home cooked food in any way!

Anyway OP I'm glad your dinner worked out OK! (And that you understood my point!)

I never knew this was even a thing! 🤯

Easiest and every saving , cook pasta, I tend to use microwave as cheaper, make and heat sauce, then grill.
why are packet sauces so expensive, last I tried was a 35 to 40p Aldi one, almost the same price a tomatoes in a tin.
i trend to either make broccoli cheese and pasta, not a fan of cauli, or a turkey bake, with mushrooms, peppers, milk and stock, cheese and crisps on top.
all stuff I have in, frozen basics

I regularly use a sausage pasta bake recipe (jar of Loyd Grossman sauce, ball of mozzarella and half a packet of Aldi version of Herta sausages, because they're the same and half the price, chopped up, sprinkle on grated cheese) from Delia's How to Cheat at Cooking which recommends boiling the pasta for 7 minutes so it's not quite cooked and it doesn't go soggy in the sauce.

I think she says to grill it under a hot grill, but I generally stick it in the oven so it's all heated up properly.

But as the OP has found, it doesn't really matter, if you use dried pasta, it just soaks up liquid from the sauce and cooks that way, but takes longer and you might need a more watery sauce to start with to work well.

i have never made this
but not tempted either

If you have to cook the pasta, that's a SAUCEPAN that you wouldn't otherwise need and the extra work of cooking it

"Extra work"???? How is putting some pasta and water in a saucepan on the stove so arduous? I'm not in the UK, but I've never heard of making a pasta bake without cooking the pasta first.

Of course it is extra work, not arduous, but extra work.

I’m also in the camp of did not even know dry pasta in the oven was a thing.
Does the dish not just get ridiculously starchy?!

although i dont cook lasagne sheets

I didn't know you didn't have to cook the pasta first. But I've not used a ready made jar so that must be why.

Love Mumsnet always learning something new!

You add water to home pride which must be the difference.

I have never done so and it's always been fine. Just into the pasta and into the oven.

We don’t all have the time to faff around cooking food and then drag a half hour sit down meal out to 3 hours every evening (like some countries)

We tend to work longer hours than other Europeans too and also I have hobbies and other things I want to do so … 🤷🏽‍♀️

I do cook the pasta first tho

Pasta bakes were brilliant when my DCs had swimming - make up bake, set oven to come on, home from lessons, open oven door, serve tea

Rubbish. Instant mash is v popular with my French friends and family!

Not sure that’s something to boast about 😄