Pasta al Forno Recipe

Here's one the whole family will love! A classic Italian pasta bake with homemade meat sauce and two tasty cheeses that is creamy, cheesy, and perfectly oozy.

📝 Ingredients

• 1 pound rigatoni pasta (500 grams)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 onion (finely chopped)
• 8 ounces ground pork ( 225 grams)
• 6 ounces Italian sausage (170 grams)
• 3 cups tomato puree (passata) (750mls)
• 1 teaspoon salt ((or to taste) extra for salting pasta cooking water)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 12 ounces mozzarella cheese (350 grams)
• 2 ounces finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese (60 grams)

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add finely chopped onion and a pinch of salt.
2. 2Fry for 5 minutes or until just taking on some color.
3. 3Add ground pork and skinned, crumbled sausage.
4. 4Increase the heat and cook until browned.
5. 5When the meat has browned and is well cooked, add the tomato puree (passata), ½ cup water, salt and pepper.
6. 6Stir well and when the sauce starts bubbling, turn the heat down to low, partly cover with the lid and simmer for 30 minutes.
7. 7In the meantime, bring a large pot of water to the boil.
8. 8Salt well (2 or 3 tablespoons of salt) and add the rigatoni pasta.
9. 9Check the package instructions and drain the pasta 3 or 4 minutes before being completely cooked. Reserve 2 cups of the cooking water.
10. 10Now time to assemble! Firstly taste the meat sauce and adjust the salt if necessary.
11. 11Cut the mozzarella cheese into cubes or roughly chop.
12. 12Then add the pasta into the meat sauce along with ¾ of the mozzarella cheese, ¾ of Pecorino Romano cheese and some cooking water.
13. 13Mix together really well adding more cooking water if it looks dry. There should be sauce at the bottom of the dish. Most likely you’ll need about 1 cup of water but it could be up to 1 ½ cups. This will keep the pasta moist and make it creamy.
14. 14Tip into a baking dish 8 x 12 inches (20x30cm/12 cup capacity) and cover with remaining cheeses.
15. 15Bake uncovered at 350ºF/180ºC for 20-25 minutes.