Baked pasta

February 1st, 2009 | Written by jfolkmann | Topic: Main

I loved baked pasta dishes, what could be better than gooey melted cheese and those little crusty bits of pasta after sitting in the oven. Most of this dish can be made in advance, which makes it a great dinner to make after work if you have most of the ingredients prepared. (Note: The leftovers often taste even better.)

Preparation time

45m

Cooking time

1h

Difficulty

2

Serves

6

Ingredients

• 4 cups of tomato sauce (homemade if you can)
• 500g large pasta shells
• 3 italian sausages
• 1 cup grated pecorino
• 250g ricotta
• 1 9X13 inch dish

Preparation

If you haven’t already made your pasta sauce, prepare it and set it aside. Cook your pasta according to the instructions on the package. Strain and put the pasta into a large pot.

Remove the insides from the sausages into a frying pan, and discard the casings. Fry the sausage meat until fully cooked. When ready add the tomato sauce to the sausage meat and fry for a couple of minutes. Add the sauce (with meat) to the pasta shells and mix thoroughly.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Add a layer of pasta shells to the bottom of the 9X13 dish, then with a teaspoon add ricotta in small dollops every 2-3 inches. Sprinkle some of the pecronino on top. Continue to layer the shells and cheese until it’s all used up.

Cover with foil and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 25 minutes.

There are 6 Comments

1. Comment by My First Kitchen on the February 2nd, 2009 at 3:13 pm

   
   

   Baked giant shells… drool. I love how simple and delicious this looks.

2. Comment by Abby @ mangerlaville on the February 2nd, 2009 at 11:41 pm

   
   

   This looks so good, easy and delicious. I love baked pasta in any form, truly delicious. I love these extra large shells, ( more room for sauce to hide.) YUMMY!

3. Comment by Marc @ NoRecipes on the February 3rd, 2009 at 11:34 am

   
   

   Great photos and nice, simple weeknight recipe.

4. Comment by Emily on the February 3rd, 2009 at 3:47 pm

   
   

   Great recipes! We’d love it if you’d join our recipe card swap!
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   Check it out! Share your recipes and get some new ones to try!

5. Comment by Andrea on the February 3rd, 2009 at 11:15 pm

   
   

   Let me think…um nope, nothing could be better. And your picture is great, a hard thing to do with pasta!

6. Comment by Laura@alwaysroom4dessert on the February 4th, 2009 at 1:55 am

   
   

   Great pic! That definitely looks like comfort food to me!

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