Fiorelli Pasta Bake

Saucy, cheesy, meaty goodness, just the thing served with a nice salad and a glass or two of wine, of course.

This recipe will serve four, we're just greedy people 😀

Fiorelli pasta can be found (in the UK) in Marks and Spencer and I think Sainsbury's sell it.

Don't you just love the shape of Fiorelli pasta?

Once the recipe is prepared, bake uncovered in your preheated oven for about 35 to 45 minutes or until bubbling and piping hot.

If you're looking for a simple vegetarian recipe you might like to try my Super Quick and Healthy Pasta Sauce.

Top Tips!

Before you begin you will need a 2.5-liter ovenproof dish, a ballon whisk and a wooden spoon.

How to find out the size of a dish: Simply fill a jug with water and note how many litres your dish will hold.

When making the white sauce be sure to let the flour and butter cook for a minute or so, or the sauce will be lumpy and taste floury.

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English

Author: Jan Bennett

Fiorelli Pasta Bake

Serves two to four people depending on whether you are as greedy as we are. Seriously, it will serve 4 if you just add garlic bread.

ingredients:

• 250g fiorelli pasta
• 250g minced beef
• 250g minced pork
• extra virgin olive oil - a few glugs for frying
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 large carrot, finely chopped
• 3 fat cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 x 400g tin of good quality Italian chopped tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons tomato purée (paste in the USA)
• 175 ml of red wine
• a good pinch of dried oregano
• salt and freshly milled black pepper
• For the white sauce:
• 750ml of whole milk
• 100g of unsalted butter
• 55g plain flour
• 100ml double cream
• 100g grated Cheddar cheese
• a pinch of nutmeg
• *plus a good handful of grated extra mature cheddar cheese and Parmesan to sprinkle over the top
• You will need a large frying pan, a large saucepan and a 2.5-litre ovenproof dish, a balloon whisk, and a wooden spoon.

instructions:

How to cook Fiorelli Pasta Bake

1. Preheat your oven to 180C/350F or Gas 4
2. In a large frying pan heat and about a tablespoon oil over medium heat. Fry gently the onion and carrot for about 10 minutes, moving it around from time to time.
3. Add the garlic and continue cooking for about 5 minutes. Then set this aside while you cook the meat.
4. Add another glug of oil to the frying pan, turn the heat up and fry the beef and pork to brown it, breaking it up with a wooden spoon.
5. Keep it moving so it browns evenly. When it's browned nicely, now you can put the onion mixture back into the frying pan with the meat.
6. Give it all a good stir. Add the tomato purée and cook for one minute then tip in the tin of tomatoes including the juice, oregano and red wine. Add a little salt and pepper to season.
7. Still stirring, allow it to come up to a simmering point.
8. Once everything is simmering away nicely, leave it to cook over low heat for about 30 minutes. be sure to give it a stir now and then so you know it's not going too dry.
9. By now you should be well on the way to having a nice thick, reduced concentrated sauce, that has very little liquid left in it.
10. If you haven't - no worries just leave it for another 10 minutes or whatever it takes - you might have the heat a bit too low.
11. Have a taste to check the seasoning, when you're happy with the thickness of the sauce, put the pan to one side and make the white sauce.
12. Now make the white sauce:
13. Put the butter and flour into a large thick-based saucepan and put it over a medium heat whilst stirring with a wooden spoon.
14. Let the flour and butter cook for a minute or so, or the sauce will be lumpy and taste floury.
15. Now, remove from the heat and using a balloon whisk, add the milk in a little at a time, whisking all the time.
16. Once all the milk is in, put the saucepan over a gentle heat and whisk continuously until the sauce comes to simmering point and thickens nicely.
17. Add some salt and pepper to season and have a taste to make sure it's okay. Add in the grated Cheddar, and don't leave the salt out or the sauce will have no taste.
18. Then, with the heat as low as possible, continue to cook the sauce for about 10 minutes.
19. When it's nice and thick, remove from the heat and stir in the cream, and a pinch of nutmeg.
20. Once that's done you can turn off the heat and cook your pasta - following the instructions on the packet. Go for very slightly undercooked 'al dente' because the pasta will continue to cook when it goes in the oven. Drain the pasta and reheat the white sauce, stirring all the time.
21. Tip the pasta into your meat sauce and gently give it a stir to coat it well - you don't want the pasta to break up.
22. Put half of the mixture into your ovenproof dish (2.5- litre in size) and spoon over a little of the white sauce. Don't fuss about the evenness of it, just pour over randomly.
23. Add the rest of the pasta and meat mixture. Now pour the rest of the white sauce over to cover the pasta as best you can.
24. Sprinkle the top with a good amount of grated cheddar and Parmesan and bake uncovered in your preheated oven for about 35 to 45 minutes or until bubbling and piping hot.

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