Pasta Bake – Core Recipe

Jump to Recipe

Pasta Bake – think lashings of a cheesy, or tomato and cheesy sauce with perfectly cooked pasta, often with a variety of different ingredients for flavour and texture, and finished off with a crispy cheesy top. These add-ins can be vegetarian or include meat or fish. Sometimes however, there may be no add-ins, such as in a macaroni cheese. Either way, Pasta Bake is dreamy comfort food, often served with a salad on the side and, if you are really pushing the boat out, a generous portion of freshly baked garlic bread. Oh yum.

This reliable and delicious Core Recipe lends itself to many, many variations and I will be posting some of my favourites. But use your imagination, or more likely in these times of COVID 19, see what you have lurking in your fridge and cupboards and create your own! It is pretty foolproof and very forgiving.

A variety of recipes based on Pasta Bake – Core Recipe

Keep an eye out for these dishes:

Dishes already posted:

• 

• 

• Tuna and Sweetcorn Pasta Bake with Roast Red Pepper and Spinach
• Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake with Broccoli, Cauliflower, Spinach and Sundried Tomatoes

Dishes I plan to post:

• Macaroni Cheese with Prosciutto
• Macaroni Cheese, Broccoli and Cauliflower Bake
• Macaroni Cheese with Salmon, Broccoli and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
• Pasta Bake with Smoked Salmon, Spinach, Petit Pois and Lemon
• Three Cheese Roast Vegetable Pasta Bake
• Italian Sausage and Roast Vegetable Creamy Tomato Pasta Bake
• Chicken and Mushroom Pasta Bake with Spinach
• Chicken, Bacon and Leek Pasta Bake
• Creamy Chorizo and Sweetcorn Pasta Bake with Tomatoes and Chilli
• Macaroni Cheese with Smoked Paprika Chicken and Roast Peppers
• Rigatoni, Taleggio, Pancetta and Thyme Pasta Bake
• Tuna and Sweetcorn Pasta Bake with Peas
• Tuna and Sweetcorn Pasta Bake with Peas, Tomatoes and Chilli

How to make Pasta Bake – Core Recipe

This recipe may seem a bit daunting laid out as it is; there are many options and potential add-ins as well as choices over types of sauce, types of cheese as well as cooked or uncooked add-ins. However, the concept is simple. You just need to choose your:

• Pasta
• Type of sauce
• Add-ins

Then all you need to do is:

• Prepare
• Bake 
• Eat
• Enjoy!

If you are at all confused, I hope the recipes I post will show you how easy they are to make. I hope you enjoy them and I also hope they will inspire you to develop your own Pasta Bakes using your favourite ingredients.

Pasta

First select which type of pasta you wish to use or have available! My favourites are:

• macaroni
• penne
• fusilli
• rigatoni
• orecchiette
• ziti
• farfalle

Cook the pasta in unsalted water according to packet instructions but for 2 minutes less than recommended, usually around 8 – 12 minutes. When the pasta is al dente, drain well.

• 

• 

• 

Add-ins – these need to be cooked before adding

If using add-ins, I recommend using up to a combined total of 2 – 3 cups of prepared add-ins from this list and the list below:

• White or red onion – peeled and chopped, fried or roast
• Chicken – grilled, fried or roast and chopped
• Bacon – fried or grilled and chopped
• Sausages – fried, grilled or oven baked and sliced
• Broccoli – in florets, boiled/steamed very quickly (optional)
• Cauliflower – in florets, boiled/steamed very quickly
• Leek – trimmed, washed and sliced, fried or roast
• Pepper – stems and seeds removed, chopped, roast or fried
• Mushrooms – sliced, fried or roast
• Courgette/Zucchini – sliced, fried or roast
• Butternut squash – peeled, cubed and roast, fried or boiled/steamed
• Sweet potato – peeled, cubed and roast, fried or boiled/steamed

• 

• 

• 

Add-ins – these do not need to be cooked before adding

If using add-ins, I recommend using up to a combined total of 2 – 3 cups of prepared add-ins from this list and the list above:

• White or red onion – peeled and finely chopped/sliced/grated
• Spring onion – trimmed and chopped
• Cooked ham – cubed
• Cured meats  – chopped or scrunched and cooked on top of the bake
• Prawns/shrimp – added whole or halved
• Smoked salmon – chopped
• Tinned or fresh salmon – broken up/sliced
• Tinned tuna – broken up
• Fresh herbs  – chopped or shredded
• Tomatoes – halved if small or chopped
• Courgette/Zucchini – thinly sliced or grated
• Baby spinach – shredded or left whole, wilted in the sauce
• Broccoli – in small florets
• Frozen or canned sweetcorn – stirred into the sauce
• Frozen peas and/or carrots – stirred into the sauce
• Fresh carrots – grated or finely diced
• Olives – whole or halved
• Sun-dried tomatoes – whole, halved or chopped
• Bottled roast peppers – chopped

Sauce

Two different types of sauce:

I’m sharing recipes for 2 different types of sauce – a cheesy sauce and a tomatoey cheesy sauce. They are pretty much interchangeable and depends on your personal preference and what ingredients you have available to you.

Two sets of quantities:

For each type of sauce, I’m giving 2 sets of quantities. One for a pasta bake with no add-ins and a second, slightly larger quantity, for a pasta bake with add-ins. The method used for making these sauces however, is exactly the same.

How to make the Sauce

Mastering this sauce is one of the most basic and useful skills you need when cooking. Sauces made using this method can be flavoured and seasoned and used in many different ways such as a béchamel sauce (made with flavoured milk), a velouté (made with stock), cheese sauce or parsley sauce. You can even make sweet flavoured sauces.

Collect all your ingredients together:

• unsalted butter
• peeled and crushed garlic, if using
• plain flour
• liquid – in this case milk or milk and passata
• fine salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• grated cheese, if using

You start by making roux. This is when you cook equal quantities of fat (normally butter) and flour and then add your chosen liquid – this could be milk, stock, cream or, for the tomatoey cheesy sauce, a mixture of milk and passata.

1. in a medium saucepan melt the butter, add the garlic and cook for 1 minute until aromatic
2. add the flour and cook for a couple of minutes stirring continuously with a wooden spoon.
3. change to a balloon whisk before you add the milk/milk and passata
4. pour in the milk/milk and passata all at once
5. mix vigorously with a balloon whisk until evenly incorporated and there are no lumps. Bring to the boil – as it heats, the sauce will thicken
6. now I prefer to use my wooden spoon again. Reduce the temperature and simmer gently for 3 – 4 minutes, stirring continuously.

Traditionally you would cook your roux over a medium heat for a couple of minutes and then slowly add your liquid. I prefer the ‘quick method’ when you cook your roux and then add all the liquid at once. Be sure to cook the sauce for a few minutes – if you do not do this your sauce will taste of flour.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The amount of liquid you add will depend on how thick you want the sauce to be. If you want a thicker sauce, simply add less liquid and if you need it to be thinner, use more liquid.

After you have cooked your sauce for a few minutes, you can add your flavourings. For Pasta Bake, this will more than likely be cheese. However, please see the Recipe Notes if you want to make a Pasta Bake without cheese. Do not add your salt and pepper until after all the cheese has melted. Cheese can be quite salty so it is important to taste the sauce before deciding how much salt and pepper to add.

• 

• 

• 

Cheese

My favourite cheeses to use in Pasta Bakes are:

• mature cheddar
• gruyere
• mozzarella
• parmesan

However, there are many others which work well too, such as:

• Comte
• Taleggio
• Blue cheese such as Stilton
• Red Leicester
• Emmenthal

To get the best results, grate your own cheese rather than buying shop bought grated cheese. These cheeses often have added ingredients to stop the grated cheese sticking together.

Bake

When you have cooked your pasta, prepared your add-ins and made the sauce, you simply need to mix everything together.

• 

• 

• 

Tip into a greased baking dish, cover with foil and cook until very hot. Remove the foil, scatter over the remaining cheese and put back in the oven, uncovered, to finish cooking. Serve, sprinkled with chopped herbs, and with your choice of serving options (See Recipe Notes.)

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Made this recipe?

If you make this recipe, do please tag me on instagram @daffodilkitchen. You could also leave a comment in the box directly below the recipe.