Creamy Cheesy Baked Pasta

Creamy Cheesy Baked Pasta, the perfect anytime pasta dish.  This Italian Baked Pasta Dish will become one of your family favourites.

I often wonder how many ingredients can we mix with pasta?  Almost anything and everything I imagine. But I also think that sometimes it is the classics that work the best and when I am craving an amazing, fast and scrumptious pasta dish this is it, Baked Pasta.

You basically need one bowl, an easy meat sauce and a lot of fresh mozzarella and parmesan cheese; add a little white sauce and it becomes so creamy and delicious you will be making it more than once.

The strange thing is  I never ate this dish at anyone’s house but people would often talk about “pasta al forno”, (baked pasta).

In Italy it can be a little confusing, because pasta al forno, also refers to lasagna, cannelloni virtually any pasta baked in the oven.  So talking to my sister- in- law (many years ago) she set me straight on  all the different types of baked pasta.

Over the years I have made this type of  baked pasta in many different ways, but I have to admit this is the winner, I think adding  just that bit of white sauce brings it all together.

Creamy Cheesy Baked Pasta

Before it gets too hot to turn on the oven, or too hot to even think about turning on the oven,  you must definitely give this a try.  Buon Appetito!

5 from 1 vote

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Creamy Cheesy Baked Pasta

Prep Time

25 mins

Cook Time

25 mins

Total Time

50 mins

 

Creamy Cheesy Baked Pasta, an easy baked pasta recipe, homemade with sauce and ground beef, a cheesy family dinner casserole.  So good!

Course: Pasta

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 6

Calories: 535 kcal

Author: Rosemary

Ingredients

• 4-5 cups cooked short pasta dried pasta 660 grams, or 2 - 2 1/2 cups (350-400 grams
• Topping
• 1 1/4 cups diced fresh mozzarella 175 grams
• 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese 50 grams
• 1/2 cup white sauce 100 mls
• For the Sauce
• 1/2 pound lean ground beef 300 grams
• 2 cups tomato puree 700 grams
• 2 tablespoons olive oil 27 grams
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 3 grams
• 1 teaspoon basil 1/2 gram
• 3 leaves fresh basil chopped
• 1 teaspoon oregano 1/2 gram
• 1 clove of garlic chopped
• 2 cups water 450 grams

Instructions

1. Pre heat oven to 350° (180°)
2. In a small pot filled with water add the ground beef and and boil for about 10 minutes, drain.
3. In a large oven proof pan add 2 tablespoons olive oil, tomato puree, drained ground beef (crumbled), salt, basil, oregano, garlic and water stir to combine, add basil leaves and cook on medium heat, half covered until thickened (approximately 20-25 minutes).
4. While sauce is cooking, In a large pot of boiling salted water cook pasta al dente, drain.
5. When sauce has thickened, add drained pasta and mix well to combine. Drizzle 1/2 cup of white sauce and top first with diced mozzarella and then parmesan cheese. Bake for approximately 20 -25 minutes in a preheated 350° (180°) oven. Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts

Creamy Cheesy Baked Pasta

Amount Per Serving

Calories 535

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.