This Italian American favorite feature tube-shaped pasta tossed in a rich meat sauce and layered with melty cheese, then baked until bubbly. It’s a family-friendly, easy-to-make casserole that’s perfect for feeding a crowd or meal prepping for the week.
Ingredients
- Penne Pasta 320 g
- Beef 300 g (ground)
- White onion 1
- Parmesan Cheese 110 g (grated)
- Tomato Paste 1 tbsp
- Mozzarella Cheese 100 g
- Rosemary 1 sprig
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
Steps:
- To prepare the baked mostaccioli, start by peeling the onion. Wet the knife before chopping to avoid tears. Put the chopped onion in a pan, add a drizzle of oil and let it brown for a few minutes.
- At this point, add the ground beef and the sprig of rosemary. Brown the meat well and it will be cooked in a few minutes.
- Now add the tomato paste. Mix and season with salt and pepper.
- Let the sauce cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once ready, remove the rosemary.
- Cut the mozzarella into cubes.
- Drain the pasta al dente (or use leftover pasta). Add the pasta to the sauce and mix well by adding half of the grated cheese.
- Put the pasta in a baking dish and add the mozzarella on the top. Cover with the remaining grated Parmigiano Reggiano and bake at 200 ° C for about 25 minutes. When the baked mostaccioli is perfectly au gratin on the surface, take it out of the oven and serve, adding chopped parsley to taste.
- Tips & Tricks
One of the tricks to make perfect baked mostaccioli is to cook the pasta al dente. For Italians, cooking pasta is a sacred thing and it is therefore important to respect the cooking times on the packaging so that it maintains the right consistency. - Brown the meat very well so that the sauce cooks faster.
