Pasta al Forno Recipe

Step 1

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add finely chopped onion and a pinch of salt.

Step 2

Fry for 5 minutes or until just taking on some color.

Step 3

Add ground pork and skinned, crumbled sausage.

Step 4

Increase the heat and cook until browned.

Step 5

When the meat has browned and is well cooked, add the tomato puree (passata), ½ cup water, salt and pepper.

Step 6

Stir well and when the sauce starts bubbling, turn the heat down to low, partly cover with the lid and simmer for 30 minutes.

Step 7

In the meantime, bring a large pot of water to the boil.

Step 8

Salt well (2 or 3 tablespoons of salt) and add the rigatoni pasta.

Step 9

Check the package instructions and drain the pasta 3 or 4 minutes before being completely cooked. Reserve 2 cups of the cooking water.

Step 10

Now time to assemble! Firstly taste the meat sauce and adjust the salt if necessary.

Step 11

Then add the pasta into the meat sauce along with ¾ of the mozzarella cheese, ¾ of Pecorino Romano cheese and some cooking water.

Step 12

Mix together really well adding more cooking water if it looks dry. There should be sauce at the bottom of the dish. Most likely you’ll need about 1 cup of water but it could be up to 1 ½ cups. This will keep the pasta moist and make it creamy.

Step 13

Tip into a baking dish 8 x 12 inches (20x30cm/12 cup capacity) and cover with remaining cheeses.

Step 14

Bake 350ºF/180ºC for 20-25 minutes.