One Pot Bolognese Cheesy Pasta Bake
Baking your Bolognese in a Dutch oven results in a deeply savoury, caramelised sauce that is superior to Bolognese made on the stovetop. Oh, and adding cheese never hurts.
Servings: 7
Ingredients
- 500 g ground beef 85% lean
- 600 g ground pork
- 0.5 medium onion
- 1 small carrot
- 800 g canned peeled tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tbsps Better than Bouillon beef stock paste
- 500 g fusilli or pasta of choice
- 2 bay leaves
- 100 g shredded mature Cheddar
- 100 g shredded Parmesan
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180C/350F. Dice the carrot and onion.
- Brown the beef and pork in the Dutch oven, working in batches. Reserve the meat. Saute the vegetables and the tomato paste in the same pot.
- Add meat back into the pot, along with the canned tomatoes, bay leaves, and Better than Bouillon. Plus some water if needed.
- Bring the pot to a simmer, cover with the lid, and bake in the oven for 2 to 3 hours.
- Just before the sauce is done, cook pasta according to package instructions and drain well. Measure out the cheese.
- Mix the pasta and half of the cheese into the sauce. Top with the rest of the cheese, and bake uncovered for 20 minutes or until cheese is melted and slightly browned.
- Allow to cool slightly before plating, garnishing and serving.
Notes
Note: Halve the ingredients if you want all of the pasta to fit in a 22 inch Dutch oven in one go. I ended up having to bake in two batches.