Birthday tomato pasta bake

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This is ds's special request for his 6th birthday tea.
You would think that it would be simple but my tomato pasta sauces are always underwhelming.
Just a bit watery and tasteless.

Can anyone please give me a really good recipe?

Thank you

I’ve used this pasta bake from Gousto several times and it’s always worked well for me. I love the mozzarella on the surface.

If you start with a couple of tins of chopped tomatoes, you can't go wrong. Tomatoes in this country are so watery it's not worth using them.

Add a tiny bit of instant coffee and a pinch of brown sugar, plus lots of Italian herbs/seasons, salt and pepper to taste and simmer away for much longer than you think you need (but don't let it stick to the pan). I always add in a squirt of tomato puree as it thickens whilst adding flavour - sometimes I grate a bit of cheddar in or let some mozzarella melt into it. Salted butter in there too to give it a nice creaminess.

Agree the gousto one is nice and you can tweak it
I often add (if not veggie!) chopped bacon or left over roasts chicken

I use this passata https://www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/271947225

1/2 cloves of garlic chopped up. Fry on a low heat . Add 2 tins of chopped tomatoes and stir. Then as pp has said, a healthy amount of dried mixed Italian herbs, plenty of seasoning. I also add some tomato purée and often half a beef stock cube with a little water for extra flavour. My DD also likes some paprika in there too. Also a table spoon of sugar. I am constantly tasting and modifying as I go along. In the oven with either mozzarella or grated cheddar at the end

@BellatrixLestrangesHeatedCurlers like the idea of butter in there! Will try that next time

Op tell us what you normally do and we can help?

Start with softening onions.red and white.add garlic.
Then jar of dolmio.tin of tomatoes and a bit of paste.cook down.
Dash of balsamic and sugar and milk.
Mixed herbs.heavier on the basil and oregano.

Add blobs of mozzarella into the pasta in the dish before cooking.
Top with cheddar and gouda
Serve with garlic bread

I'd just add lots of purée for depth - unless you have time to cook loads of watery bland tomatoes down for ages.

I put a bit of red wine and half a beef stock cube. I imagine yours is watery because either you add extra water, your chopped tomatoes are a bit cheap and cheerful (supermarket own brand are fine rather than supermarket budget brand) or on the other hand maybe you aren’t reducing it for long enough (letting it happily bubble away for as long as possible- 30mins+)

I add breadcrumbs to the top with a cheddar/mozzarella mix and sliced tomatoes!
alternatively ready salted crisps make a good topping with cheese

Also adding a bit of the starchy pasta water can help the sauce cling to the pasta rather than slide off

For a creamier pasta bake you can add a dollop of cream cheese in, just Philadelphia type stuff

Fundamentally you fix water with evaporation, longer simmering time

Usually a basis of onion and red pepper softened on a pan. Add chopped toms, garlic and herbs. Sometimes stock cubes and I have experimented with sugar and balsamic previously.
It's usually either too acidic, too watery or just bland.

The first recipe looks good. I will give that a go.
Otherwise it looks like I need to simmer for longer and add Tom puree. Maybe some butter or milk.

Thank you all.

You need to cook it down for ages.

What I do is soften onion and (lots) garlic, add tomato puree and a good glue of red wine, when the wine is cooked off add chopped tomato, bit of stock and a spring off fresh rosemary and of thyme and then whack the heat right down and let it simmer for absolute bare minimum of 45 mins. Season to taste and add fresh basil. Never had any complaints

Make sure you're using good quality tomatoes. We tend to use Mutti. Half an onion, finely chopped and fried gently before you add the tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper and some fresh basil. A dollop of mascarpone in the sauce. Then mix with your cooked pasta, add chopped mozzarella. Top with grated Parmesan and stick in the oven.

Try using passata and a tbsp of tomato puree instead of tinned chopped tomatoes. They always make things watery I find.

Fucktonne of butter and good tomatoes are what you need

Really good quality tinned tomatoes are much less watery than cheap tins. Start there!

I second butter. Use a healthy amount of butter to sweat onions and garlic, add paprika and then tip over the tinned tomatoes with a lot of dried herbs. Add a table spoon of vinegar and a tablespoon of sugar. Add a stock cube or anything with some msg in it and then simmer for as long as you can bare. Blend when it's thick and the add more butter or some cream.

Definitely need a bit of sugar and ideally a glug or red wine or port. I add a spoonful of red pesto too.

This is a firm fave with everyone in our family as well as being super easy and no fuss. I find that it takes longer to cool than stated. www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/baked-tomato-mozzarella-orzo

I would have thought if he’s requesting it for a birthday tea, he already likes it the way you make it!

add bredcrumbs on top to make it nice and crunchy :)

This. Generally 6 year old tastes are very dull. If you try and tart it up, chances are he won't like it...

Don't make the mistake of applying adult values here. He'll likely enjoy a cheap jar of tomato pasta sauce far more than anything fancy.