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Pasta al forno (baked pasta the Italian way)
This recipe is based on my Sicilian mother-in-law's version of pasta al forno. It's rich and tasty and perfect for when you have a large number to feed!
Ingredients
For the meat ragu
- 500 g minced beef and pork mix or veal
- ½ glass white wine
- 100 g peas
- 1 carrot
- 1 celery stalk
- 1 medium sized onion
- 1-2 garlic cloves (optional) garlic isn't always used in ragu. But you can add it if you like it.
- extra virgin olive oil
- 1 handful basil leaves or parsley chopped
- 2 tablespoon tomato concentrate
- 500 ml tomato pulp or passata
- salt and pepper to taste
For the pasta al forno
- 400 g tortiglioni or other pasta tubes (better ridged like rigatoni)
- 300 g caciocavallo or mozzarella cut into pieces
- 50 g parmesan
Instructions
First the meat ragu
- Chop the carrot, onion, garlic and celery finely.
- Fry the vegetables in olive oil until they are softening. Be careful not to allow them to burn!
- Add the minced meat and cook until browned.
- Then add the tomato concentrate and stir well
- Add the glass of wine and stir well again
- When the wine has evaporated pour in the tomato pulp and mix it in well with the meat.
- Add the basil leaves and salt and pepper as required.
- Cover the sauce and allow to simmer on a low heat for at least an hour, stirring occasionally so it doesn't stick. If it gets too thick add some water.
- 15 minutes before the sauce is ready add the peas.
Second prepare the pasta
- Put salted water on to boil for the pasta. Cook the pasta 2-3 minutes less than instructed on the packet. Strain and add the pasta to the meat sauce when it is ready.
- Mix the pasta and sauce well and allow to cool.
Third put the pasta al forno together and bake.
- Put a layer of pasta with sauce on the bottom of an oven dish.
- Make another layer with thick pieces of mozzarella.
- Add another layer of pasta with meat sauce and again some mozzarella
- Finish with a layer of pasta.
- Sprinkle with parmesan and bake in a pre-heated oven 180-200° until the top layer starts to crisp (30-40 mins)
Notes
Any tube pasta can be used to make this pasta bake e.g. penne, rigatoni, maccheroni, elicoidali etc
Instead of caciocavallo or mozzarella you can also use scamorza or provola
instead of grated parmesan, pecorino or grana are delicious too!
This dish can be prepared in advance up to the point of baking it. Keep it in the fridge and bake just before serving.
Instead of caciocavallo or mozzarella you can also use scamorza or provola
instead of grated parmesan, pecorino or grana are delicious too!
This dish can be prepared in advance up to the point of baking it. Keep it in the fridge and bake just before serving.
Nutrition
Calories: 1064kcalCarbohydrates: 98gProtein: 60gFat: 47gSaturated Fat: 22gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 17gTrans Fat: 2gCholesterol: 157mgSodium: 877mgPotassium: 1457mgFiber: 8gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 4144IUVitamin C: 29mgCalcium: 618mgIron: 7mg
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Nigel says
Tasty. I replaced mozzarella with scamorza (as you suggest) which I happened to have and it made a lovely, stringy cheese core. I have a healthy appetite but even I find 100 gr of pasta per serving a bit much but, no worries, the rest goes in the oven for lunch the next day.
Thanks. Your site has become my 'go to' for genuine Italian recipes and I'm looking forward to challenging myself with a few filled pasta recipes.
Jacqui says
Hi Nigel thanks for your comment! I'm happy you liked this baked pasta and so pleased you like The Pasta Project! When we make this recipe, there's also leftovers and we love them for lunch the next dayI It's a great reason to make generous portions!
Sarah says
So good! Could I make this only with beef?
Jacqui says
Hi Sarah. Yes just beef works fine too! Enjoy!
Courtney says
This was really delicious, but I think i would add a stock pot when I next make it. When I was eating it I just felt like there was something missing, like it lacked a little bit of flavour. Great recipe though, any tweaks would be for personal preference
Stefano says
The best thing about pasta al forno is the fact that you actually don't need to follow any specific recipe, the only important thing is to have a bit of sauce that embraces the pasta (not too much!) in order to keep the humidity to decent levels. What we used to do in my family was to make more pasta for dinner (let's say 1kg instead of 500g) so that the leftover was used the day after to make pasta al forno (adding other leftovers we had in the fridge: the last bit of fresh pecorino, the final part of the leg of prosciutto etc). Cucina povera is the way.
Mary says
I love that you can add your fridge leftovers the next day to make pasta al forno, but is the pasta mushy the next day? I’m thinking about making it ahead of time( the day before) and then just popping it in the oven for a fresh baked pasta. Will this work?
Jacqui says
Hi Mary, if you cook dried pasta alone it will be a little drier the next day not mushy. If you mix it with sauce and other ingredients it will be fine for baking the next day as long as the dish is sealed and the pasta has been cooked less than al dente (so still quite firm) .
FGZ says
easy and delicious -
Kim says
Would you be against sharing a few dessert recipes to accompany each of your pasta dishes? Thank you. Love your site!
Denise says
Easy just to double the quantities to feed 8?
Jacqui says
Hi Denise, thanks for your comment. Yes you could double quantities to feed 8. However, the portions are going to be very generous since this recipe is already quite generous for 4 people. If I were feeding 8 I'd double everything except the quantity of meat and pasta. Instead I'd just use 750 g meat and 650 g pasta. But, if you have leftovers, they can be eaten the next day. I don't normally freeze ready cooked pasta al forno. I find the pasta gets mushy! Let me know how it goes. All the best from Verona.
David Bruce Patterson says
Making this for a party on Saturday March 13, I'll report back.
Jacqui says
Hi David, I'm sure it will be a hit! Yes, do let me known how it turns out! Buon appetito!
Alexandra says
I can’t see were are the peas going, you didn’t mention in the method .
Thank you
Jacqui says
Hi Alexandra, thanks for your comment. Actually, adding the peas is step 9 in the first part of the recipe instructions. You need to add them to the sauce 15 mins before it is ready. Hope you enjoy this dish!
Rachel says
What temperature should the oven be? 200F?
Jacqui says
Hi Rachel. Thanks for your comment. Oven temperatures are given in celsius as that's what we use here in Europe. 200°c is about 390°f.
MIK says
I must have done something wrong, because everybody seems to love this dish, while I was left seriously underwhelmed. Having zero former experience baking pasta, I followed the recipe to a "t". The taste was OK, though for me the dish is too bland and needs some kick. My problem was the texture - a hard, dry, difficult-to-chew top layer and the mushy pasta beneath. Is it supposed to be like that? That hard top layer? If I decided to give it another try, I'd probably go for a smaller-sized pasta (I used rigatoni), more fresh mozzarella and some chilli. A light, bright, zingy green salad on the side is a must.
Jacqui says
Hi MIK, thanks for your message. I'm sorry to hear you weren't happy with your pasta al forno. It's difficult to know what the problem was. This is a classic Italian recipe and we cook it a lot. The sauce needs to be simmered for at least an hour so it has a richer taste (in fact the longer you cook it the better it is). If you like a bit of spice you can, of course, add some red chili pepper (peperoncino), although that's not traditional for this recipe. There are only 2 reasons that the pasta would be mushy underneath and too hard on top. It is either over-cooking or a low quality pasta. What brand of pasta did you use?
MIK says
Hello, Jacqui! Thank you for responding. I used Italian Barilla pasta. I have a dual cook oven and baked the dish in the upper half at the fan setting. Perhaps I should just use the top-bottom heaters. I'm giving it another try today; keep your fingers crossed.
Tracey Milone says
Absolutely bellissimo! I have always cooked lasagne for my family but after cooking this, it will be a recipe that will be used over and over again!!!
The Pasta Project says
Grazie! Glad you love it!
Linda says
I am cooking pasta al forno (baked the Italian way) for dinner today and in the recipe it says to chop the garlic. There is no mention of garlic in the ingredients so how much garlic do I put in please?
Jacqui says
Hi Linda, thanks for pointing that out. I will correct it immediately! 1-2 cloves is what I sometimes use, depending on how big they are. If you like a more garlicky flavour you can add more. But garlic isn't always used in ragu so you can also leave it out.
Danielle Wolter says
OMG i feel like i could eat this all day. it sounds just amazing. baked pasta dishes like this are the best!
Jacqui says
Thank you dear Danielle! Baked pasta is definitely one of my favourites, especially when made with a meat ragu like this one. I could also eat it all day!
Gabby | The Tolerant Table says
This looks absolutely delicious! I haven't had a gorgeous pasta bake like this since I was a child. I love the fact that there are so many varieties of ragu too, with everyone giving it their own flare.
Jacqui says
Grazie Gabby! Yes this baked pasta is a real winner and classic Italian family fare! I want to make some of the other regional versions this coming winter! Now it's a bit too hot to have the oven on!
Mirlene says
Wow! 22 people?! Great thing you had help. The pasta looks great. Always love seeing how people around the world cook their pastas. Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Jacqui says
Hi Mirlene, yep Italian family lunches often involve a lot of people!! My hubby has 4 sisters, all married with kids. So you can imagine how chaotic it gets! But so much fun and everybody mucks in!
April says
This looks so delicious and I love that it’s filled with veggies. I’d love to make this one day for Sunday supper!
Jacqui says
Thank you April! happy that you like this baked pasta! In reality you can put even more veggies in, although this is the traditional Sicilian way! All the best!
Samantha H. says
Yum! This looks super flavorful and delicious. I love a good richly flavored pasta sauce and red sauce with pasta covered in cheese.
Jacqui says
Yes, Samantha! this definitely has all the ingredients that make baked pasta so good! It's one of my favourite recipes for family lunches!