Cheesy Tomato Sausage Pasta Bake
A cheesy sausage pasta bake with a rich tomato sauce, crispy bacon and melted mozzarella, baked until golden and bubbling. An easy, flavour-packed dinner perfect for any night of the week.
Servings: 6 people
Ingredients
- 400 grams pasta (elicoidali, penne, ziti or rigatoni)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 250 grams bacon cut into bite size pieces
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons fennel seeds (optional)
- 500 grams sausages (meat squeezed out of casings, see notes)
- 690 gram jar of tomato passata (see notes)
- ⅔ cup cream
- 100 grams parmesan (divded into 40g for sauce, 30g for each layer)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice plus the zest
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ - ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 300 grams mozzarella grated (see notes)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C).
Make the sauce
- Heat the butter in a large skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook the bacon until crisp and golden, about 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the drippings.
- Lower the heat slightly and cook the onion until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and fennel seeds (if using) and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
- Add the sausage meat, increasing the heat slightly if needed. Cook, breaking it up, until mostly cooked through, about 5-6 minutes.
- Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta 1-2 minutes less than the package instructions.
- Add the passata and cream to the sausage mixture and bring to a very gentle simmer.
- Add 40 grams of the parmesan in and mix in until melted.
- Add the bacon back in with the lemon juice and black pepper. Taste and adjust salt, it should be slightly on the salty side as the pasta will dilute the flavor.
- Simmer gently on low heat for 10 minutes while the pasta cooks.
- Reserve 1 cup of the sauce, then mix the drained pasta into the remaining sauce. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Assemble
- See photos above to help with assembly.
- In a 9 x 13 inch (or similar) baking dish, add half the pasta mixture in an even layer.
- Sprinkle over the lemon zest, then 100 grams mozzarella and 30 grams parmesan.
- Add the remaining pasta mixture and spoon over the reserved sauce evenly.
- Top with the remaining 200 grams mozzarella and 30 grams parmesan.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until golden and bubbling. Cover loosely with foil if browning too quickly.
- Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
Fennel seeds - Optional, but I highly recommend them for extra flavor. Using pork and fennel sausages already gives a great base, but the extra seeds really enhance it.
Sausages - Use any sausages you like. I use a mix of pork and fennel and beef, but all pork or all beef works just as well. Remove the casings before cooking.
Passata - A smooth tomato puree (not tomato paste). It creates a thicker, more luscious sauce. If you can’t find it, use 2 x 400g cans of tomatoes and blend until smooth. The sauce may be slightly thinner.
Mozzarella - Use a block and grate it yourself for the best melt. Pre-grated mozzarella contains anti-caking agents that affect texture. Avoid fresh mozzarella balls as they release too much moisture.
Cheese amounts - The cheese is divided between the sauce and layers. Add 40 grams parmesan to the sauce, then 30 grams in each layer. For mozzarella, use 100 grams in the middle layer and 200 grams on top.