Italian Beef Pasta Bake

Nutrition per serve

Ingredients

• 2pcs carrot
• 2clov garlic
• 50g parmesan
• 400g penne pasta
• 300g lean beef mince
• 20g Italian seasoning
• 50g tomato paste
• 800g diced tomatoes
• 19ml olive oil
• 15ml sugar

Method

1. Step 1 — Prep ingredients
   Preheat the oven to 220C, fan-forced (see Feed A Crowd). Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil for the pasta. Grease a 3L (12 cup) baking dish. Finely chop the carrots. Crush or finely chop 2 garlic cloves. Finely grate the parmesan.
2. Step 2 — Cook pasta
   Cook the pasta in the pan of boiling water for 10 mins or until al dente. Reserve 125ml (½ cup) cooking water, then drain the pasta. Return the pasta to the pan, drizzle with 1 tsp olive oil and toss to coat. Cover to keep warm.
3. Step 3 — Brown beef
   Meanwhile, heat 1 tbs olive oil in a large deep frypan over medium heat. Cook the carrot, stirring, for 5 mins or until softened. Increase the heat to high, add the beef mince and cook, breaking up the lumps with a spoon, for 3-4 mins until browned. Add the Italian seasoning, garlic and tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 30 secs or until fragrant.
4. Step 4 — Simmer sauce
   Add the tomatoes, reserved cooking water and 3 tsp sugar (see Feed A Crowd) to the beef mixture and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 mins or until slightly thickened. Remove the pan from the heat. Taste, then season with salt and pepper.
5. Step 5 — Serve up
   Add the sauce to the pasta and toss to combine. Transfer to the baking dish, scatter over the parmesan and bake for 5-7 mins until golden. Divide the pasta bake among plates and enjoy!
6. Step 6 — Feed A Crowd
   Don't want to turn the oven on? Instead of making a pasta bake, simply spoon the sauce over the cooked pasta and scatter with parmesan. ~ Adding a little sugar to the sauce helps to balance the acidity of the tomato. If you prefer, you can leave the sugar out or add a little bit more, depending on your taste.

Allergens

Milch, Gluten, Wheat, Sulfit