Creamy baked pasta with meat sauce and béchamel: the perfect recipe for family Sundays.
Family Sundays are a special moment, aren’t they?
Being together, sharing a good meal, relaxing, but let’s face it, between children’s games, tidying up the house, and various commitments, time for cooking is always tight!
And those with a small child know it: Sunday mornings are a real obstacle course!
I still remember when my son was little: between baby food, diaper changes, and attempts to entertain him, putting together a decent lunch was an epic feat.
And yet, I never wanted to give up that moment of sharing at the table, that feeling of family gathered around a steaming dish.
That’s why I learned to optimize time in the kitchen, to find quick and tasty solutions that allowed me to not neglect my family nor my need to prepare something good.
And this recipe is proof of it!
A creamy and tasty baked pasta, with a rich meat sauce and a velvety béchamel, which will conquer both young and old. But the real secret is the pasta cooking: almost raw in the oven!
A trick that saves precious time and yields a perfect result, with al dente pasta and a well-blended sauce.
Curious to find out how to do it?
Keep reading!
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very economical
- Rest time: 10 Minutes
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 4
- Cooking methods: Oven, Electric oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons, Valentine's Day
- Energy 371.39 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 27.98 (g) of which sugars 2.71 (g)
- Proteins 13.72 (g)
- Fat 22.52 (g) of which saturated 10.06 (g)of which unsaturated 11.54 (g)
- Fibers 2.04 (g)
- Sodium 924.35 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 280 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients
- 1.1 lbs paccheri
- 1.1 lbs mixed minced meat
- 1 carrots
- 1 onion
- 1 stalk celery
- Half glass red wine
- 4.2 cups tomato sauce
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch black pepper
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- to taste Grana Padano DOP
- 1 béchamel sauce
- 2.1 cups milk
- 3.5 tbsp butter
- 0.4 cups flour
Tools
- 1 Baking pan Graziano
- 1 High-sided saucepan Vier
- 1 Pot
Steps
To make creamy baked pasta with meat sauce and béchamel, let’s start by preparing our meat sauce! 🔪
Take the vegetables for the soffritto: celery, carrot, and onion. Wash them thoroughly and dry them.
Now, with a sharp knife, finely chop the celery and carrot, while the onion is cut into small cubes.
Put the chopped vegetables aside and start to sauté them in a large pan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Add only the chopped onion and let it cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until it starts to become transparent and slightly golden.
Once the onion becomes transparent, add the minced celery and carrot we set aside to the pan.
Pour a drop of water, this little trick will help us not to burn the vegetables and let them wither gently.
Mix well and let it cook over low heat for a few minutes, until the vegetables are soft.
At this point, add the minced pork and beef. Slightly increase the heat and brown the meat, stirring often to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan and to cook it evenly. When the meat is well browned, it’s time to deglaze with wine!
You can use dry white wine or, if you prefer a more robust taste, red wine. Pour the wine into the pan and let it completely evaporate over high heat, so that the alcohol evaporates leaving only the aroma.
Only then do we add the tomato sauce.
Once the tomato sauce is added, mix the sauce well, adjust the salt, and let it simmer over low heat for at least a couple of hours, stirring occasionally. A sauce cooked slowly over low heat will be more flavorful and the meat will become very tender! 😋
While the sauce is cooking, let’s focus on the béchamel. In a saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.
When the butter is completely melted, add the flour all at once and stir vigorously with a whisk to avoid lumps. Continue mixing until you get a smooth and homogeneous mixture, called roux.
At this point, pour the milk in a thin stream, little by little, still stirring with the whisk to avoid lumps.
Add a pinch of salt and a grating of nutmeg. Continue cooking the béchamel over low heat, stirring continuously until it thickens.
The consistency should be creamy and velvety. If it turns out too thick, we can add a little hot milk. Once ready, turn off the heat and set aside the béchamel. Now that we have the sauce and the béchamel ready, we can move on to cooking the pasta! 😉
While the sauce finishes its slow cooking and the béchamel rests, bring a large pot of abundant water to a boil. Lightly salt it and dive the pasta. In my case, I chose a short and large pasta format, similar to paccheri, but with an even wider diameter, ideal for stuffing. The cooking needs to be short, just 4 minutes, so that the pasta remains al dente and holds its shape well during stuffing.
Drain it and immediately start composing our dish!
Take a baking pan and arrange the pasta standing up, next to each other, as if they were small cannelloni.
Now, with the help of a spoon, fill each “cannelloni” with the still hot sauce.
Make sure to stuff each piece of pasta well, so that the dish is rich and flavorful.
After stuffing all the pasta with the sauce, make sure to have some left to cover the surface well.
Pour the remaining sauce over the pasta, covering every empty space.
Now it’s time to add the béchamel we prepared earlier. Pour it over the sauce, spreading it evenly over the entire surface.
For a final touch of flavor and an irresistible gratin, sprinkle the surface with plenty of grated cheese. I chose hard ricotta cheese grated, but you can use the cheese you prefer: Parmigiano Reggiano, pecorino, provolone.
Finally, a drizzle of raw extra virgin olive oil for aroma.
Now bake our baked pasta in a preheated oven at 356°F for about 20-25 minutes, or until the surface is golden and crispy. Once ready, take it out of the oven and let it cool slightly before serving.
Once the baked pasta is perfectly cooked, take it out of the oven.
With the help of a spatula or a spoon, cut generous portions and gently transfer them to individual plates.
We can garnish with some fresh basil leaves for a touch of color and aroma. Serve the baked pasta cheesy and fragrant, perhaps accompanied by a good glass of red wine.
Enjoy your meal!
Tips, storage, and variations for creamy baked pasta with meat sauce and béchamel:
Here are some useful tips for your creamy baked pasta with meat sauce and béchamel recipe:
Storage:
Baked pasta keeps in the fridge, in an airtight container, for 2-3 days. To reheat it, you can use the traditional oven or microwave. If you use the oven, cover the pasta with aluminum foil to prevent it from drying out too much.
Variations:
Type of pasta:
You can use any short pasta shape you like, such as penne, rigatoni, sedanini, or even fresh egg pasta. If you want to experiment, try using different pasta shapes to create a “cannelloni” effect like in the photo you showed me.
Meat sauce:
You can enrich the meat sauce with other ingredients, such as sausage, bacon, mushrooms, or peas. You can also use a vegetarian sauce based on vegetables, like eggplant, zucchini, and peppers.
Béchamel:
For a lighter béchamel, you can use semi-skimmed milk or plant-based milk. You can also flavor it with herbs, spices, or cheeses.
Cheese:
You can use any type of grated cheese you prefer, such as Parmigiano Reggiano, pecorino, provolone, mozzarella or salted ricotta.
Vegetables:
You can add other vegetables to the meat sauce, like mushrooms, peas, or even leafy greens like spinach or Swiss chard.
Spices:
You can flavor the meat sauce and béchamel with spices and herbs to taste, such as bay leaf, basil, oregano, nutmeg, or black pepper.
Extra tips:
For an even creamier baked pasta, you can add a beaten egg to the béchamel before baking.
To prevent the pasta from drying out in the oven, you can add a ladle of pasta cooking water to the meat sauce before assembling the dish.
For an even crispier gratin, you can add breadcrumbs to the grated cheese.
I hope these tips are helpful! 😃
Wine pairing for creamy baked pasta with meat sauce and béchamel:
Creamy baked pasta with meat sauce and béchamel is a rich and flavorful dish, so the ideal pairing is with a medium-bodied red wine, with good acidity and soft tannins, able to balance the creaminess of the dish and accompany the taste of the meat sauce.
Here are 5 wines that pair well with this recipe:
Chianti Classico: a great Tuscan classic, with cherry notes, spices, and balanced acidity.
Barbera d’Alba: a Piedmontese wine with lively acidity and aromas of red fruit, perfect for “cutting through” the béchamel.
Dolcetto d’Alba: another Piedmontese wine, fruity with soft tannins, excellent to accompany the meat sauce.
Sangiovese di Romagna: a Romagnolo wine with a good body and a pleasant freshness, ideal for balancing the richness of the dish.
Nero d’Avola: a Sicilian wine with notes of ripe red fruit and spices, which matches well with tomato and meat dishes.
Tip: If you prefer a white wine, opt for a Vermentino di Sardegna or a Greco di Tufo, both with good structure and aroma.
FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions)
Here are some frequently asked questions and answers about creamy baked pasta with meat sauce and béchamel:
What is the secret to a perfect meat sauce?
The secret to a perfect meat sauce is in the slow and low heat cooking. The meat should cook slowly in the sauce for at least a couple of hours, so that it becomes very tender and the flavors blend perfectly. Additionally, it’s important to use quality ingredients, such as fresh minced meat, fresh vegetables, and good quality tomato sauce.
How do you prevent the béchamel from forming lumps?
To prevent the béchamel from forming lumps, it’s important to follow some precautions:
Mix vigorously:
When adding the flour to the melted butter, it’s essential to stir quickly with a whisk to avoid lumps.
Add the milk in a stream:
The milk should be added little by little, always stirring with the whisk, to avoid temperature shocks and the formation of lumps.
Cook over low heat:
The béchamel should cook over low heat, stirring continuously, to prevent it from sticking to the bottom and forming lumps.
Strain it:
If despite the precautions the béchamel has lumps, you can strain it before using.
What type of pasta is best for baked pasta?
For baked pasta, you can use any short pasta shape.
Traditionally, penne, rigatoni, sedanini, fusilli, or even fresh egg pasta are used. In this recipe, I chose a pasta shape similar to paccheri, but with an even wider diameter, which lends itself well to stuffing.
The choice depends on personal taste and the effect you want to achieve.
If you want a more rustic dish, you can use a short pasta with a rough surface that holds the sauce better.
If you prefer a more elegant dish, you can opt for a smooth short pasta. 😃
Can I prepare baked pasta in advance?
Yes, baked pasta can be prepared in advance and stored in the refrigerator for a day or two.
Before baking, let it sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes so that it’s not too cold.How do you reheat leftover baked pasta?
Leftover baked pasta can be reheated in a traditional oven or microwave.
If using the oven, cover the pasta with aluminum foil to prevent it from drying out too much.
Can I freeze baked pasta
?Yes, baked pasta can be frozen. Once cooked, let it cool completely and then transfer it to a suitable freezing container. You can freeze it either cooked or raw, already assembled in the baking pan. To thaw it, let it sit in the refrigerator overnight and then reheat it in the oven or microwave.What are the most delicious variants of baked pasta?
The variants of baked pasta are endless!
You can add other ingredients to the meat sauce, such as sausage, bacon, mushrooms, or peas.
You can also use a vegetarian sauce based on vegetables, like eggplant, zucchini, and peppers. For béchamel, you can use plant-based milk or flavor it with herbs or spices.
You can also add other cheeses to baked pasta, like mozzarella, provola, or salted ricotta. In short, get creative and create your personalized version of baked pasta!
