A tin of tomatoes + a cup and a half of beef stock is the perfect amount - enough to cook the pasta and make a super delicious sauce. The key is adding extra liquid to the sauce. I am never cooking pasta in a pot ever again. Throw the uncooked pasta into the mince when you add the sauce ingredients, cover up and let it do it's thing. But then I remembered that I hate doing dishes and knew that there had to be a way to avoid the frying pan + pasta pot + baked on cheese in the oven dish situation. This recipe was originally going to be a mince pasta bake - it's such a classic family meal. Not only is it the ultimate comfort food situation, it also wins ALL the prizes for being speedy, cost efficient, easy to cook and ONE PAN!! We have been eating this at least once a week for the last couple of months and it's got to the point where I don't even erase it from the blackboard meal planner because it has well and truly earned a permanent spot there. We are so outright obsessed with this cheesy one pan mince pasta that I am struggling to think how I am going to top this. I have to tell you, I am seriously considering not ever posting another dinner recipe on this blog ever again. 30 minutes from start to finish and everything (including the pasta) is cooked in one pan! Remove from the pasta from the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes before serving with grated Parmesan cheese.This easy, cheesy one pan mince pasta is going to be your new go-to quick weeknight meal.Place the pasta in the preheated oven and bake for 25 minutes.Use the bread crumbs to top the pasta bake, followed by the chopped or torn mozzarella and the basil.Stir slowly until the bread crumbs are toasted and slightly brown. Add the Panko bread crumbs, Italian seasoning and salt and pepper to taste. Add a glug of olive oil to a small pan and bring it up to medium heat.(If you're using an oven-safe pot, keep the pasta there.) At this point, transfer the pasta to a rimmed 8'-x-5' baking dish. Stir until the sauce coats all of the pasta.

Add the pasta to the pot, followed by the reserved pasta water.

If you like a more cohesive pasta sauce, blend more if you like chunkier, blend less.

Using an immersion blender - or carefully scooping batches into a countertop blender - pulse the sauce until the mixture takes on a thick, paste-like consistency.

Once the liquid has reduced by half - this should take about 15 minutes - remove the pot from the heat. Add salt and pepper to taste, then bring the mixture to a low simmer and cover the pot.

Add the wine to the pot, followed by just enough water to cover the contents of the pot.

Add the crushed red pepper flakes, eggplant and sun-dried tomatoes. Cook over medium heat until they get jammy and a little browned, about 4 minutes. Cover the bottom of a large pot with olive oil, then add the garlic and shallots.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

That was the impetus for this pasta bake, which features a flavor-rich eggplant and sun-dried tomato sauce as the base and crispy toasted breadcrumbs and hand-torn mozzarella as the topping. The whole thing comes together in under an hour an hour, which is not too bad for a weeknight.īonus: If you use an oven-safe pot or a Dutch oven, this is a one-pot meal (because who really has the time to scrub multiple pans on a Monday?).

RELATED: Salon Food's top 10 recipes of 2021: From impossibly crisp chicken parmesan to chocolate sandwiches I don't know about you, but my energy has been completely vampirized by these 4 p.m. When I recently had one of these now-routine cravings, I wondered if it was possible to create a shortcut to the same flavors. It's deliciously cheesy, crisp and punched up with the right amount of tomato-umami goodness. Nonetheless, eggplant parm is a meal I consistently crave because it hits all of the right notes. To me, these dishes are weekend projects. I have a few: birria tacos, lamb biryani and eggplant parmesan. I bet there's a dish you absolutely love, but you rarely go through the actual steps of making at home on a weeknight.

Chessy pasta