Cheese and Tomato Pasta Bake

Cheese and Tomato Pasta Bake

Written by on in Brunch, Main Course, Vegetarian and Vegan
Cheese and Tomato Pasta Bake
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Cheese and Tomato Pasta Bake

Recipe by GeeDeeCourse: Brunch, Main CourseCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Medium
Servings

6

servings
Prep time

15

minutes
Cooking time

30

minutes
Calories

569

kcal
Total time

45

minutes

A quick and easy delicious pasta bake. Serve it as a brunch or as a main meal.

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp olive oil

  • 1 onion diced

  • 1 carrot peeled and diced

  • 1 celery stalk diced

  • 2 garlic cloves finely sliced

  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

  • 2 400 g tins chopped tomatoes

  • 175 ml Red Wine a small glass

  • 1 tsp Italian Herbs

  • 500 g Fusilli or Rotini pasta can also be made with penna

  • 150 g mature Cheddar grated

  • 150 g red Leicester grated

  • Parsley finely chopped to serve

Directions

  • For the Tomato Sauce
  • Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat.
  • Sweat the onion, carrot and celery for 5/7 mins, or until softened.
  • Add in the garlic and cook for a further 2-3 mins.
  • Add in the balsamic vinegar and wine and let it simmer until the wine has reduced.
  • Add the tinned tomatoes, herbs and 250ml water and bring to the boil.
  • Turn down the heat and simmer for 20 mins to let the sauce reduce then remove from the heat.
  • Preheat the oven to 200°C, Fan180°C/ 400°f./ Gas mark 6
  • While you are waiting for the sauce to reduce, bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta for approx 10 minutes.
  • When cooked the pasta should be tender but still firm to the bite
  • Blitz the sauce with A Stick Blender until smooth and season to taste.
  • Drain the pasta(keeping a cup or so of the water) and stir in the sauce.
  • If the pasta mix is too thick, loosen it up with the cup of water saved from cooking the pasta.
  • (You are looking for the pasta mix to be fairly loose as it will reduce in the oven.)
  • Transfer half of the pasta mix to an ovenproof baking dish, and top with a mix of half the cheeses
  • Add the remainder of the pasta and again top with the remainder of the cheeses
  • Bake in the oven for 15 mins, or until the top is a golden brown.
  • Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve