Maltese pasta bake (Imqarrun il-forn)

Ingredients

For the pasta:

• 500gr gluten-free tube, ridged pasta (like penne, tortiglioni, rigatoni or similar)

For the meat ragù:

• 1kg mixed pork and beef mince

• 150gr finely chopped (on minced) unsmoked bacon

• 800ml water 

• 400gr tomato paste (if you don’t have access to this, you can replace it with a 400gr quality tomato passata, 130gr of good quality tomato paste, 1 tbsp of honey)

• 400gr good-quality, finely chopped tomatoes

• 3 small white onions or 2 medium ones

• 5 crushed garlic cloves

• 2 bay leaves

• 1.5 tbsps evoo

• 1 tbsps gluten-free Worcester sauce

• 1.5 tsps curry powder

• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp Italian herbs mix

• 1 chicken stock pot

• 1 beef stock pot

• Salt and pepper to taste 

For the ricotta mix:

• 500gr ricotta cheese

• 3 large eggs

• 1 tbsp milk (any milk will do)

• 1 tsp garlic granules

• 2 tbsps grated Parmesan or Grana Padano

• Salt and pepper 

Method

I start by making the ragù. In a large pot, I drizzle the Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO), add the bay leaves and some freshly cracked ground pepper, followed by the finely chopped onions and crushed garlic. Once these start to become translucent and golden, the meat and bacon go in, as well as the cinnamon, curry powder, and Italian herbs mix. Using a wooden spoon, I mix the mince with the onion, garlic, and spices until browned and I add the Worcester sauce. I leave it to simmer and cook for about 5 minutes on medium heat, stirring every minute or so. To this, I add tomato paste, finely chopped tomatoes, water, and the 2 stock pots. The ragù is left to come to a boil on medium heat and then left to simmer on low heat for about 45 minutes minimum and up to 2 hours to allow the flavours to develop well.

Whilst the ragù, is reaching its full potential, I bring a pot of salted water to a boil for the pasta and turn the oven on to 200ºC. I then butter an oven dish (approx.12x9 inch) and set aside. In the meantime, to a bowl, I add ricotta, eggs, garlic granules, milk, and grated hard cheese of choice and whisk until it becomes smooth and dreamy. I season to taste because I tend to season every element of a dish.

Once the salted water has come to a boil, I throw in the pasta and boil it for about 5 minutes. The pasta will continue to cook in the oven so it doesn’t need to fully cook. Once the timer goes off, I drain the pasta lightly and add it back to the pot so it still has some pasta water with it. To this, I add the ricotta mixture and stir it for a while until the pasta is fully covered in all the deliciousness.

I tip the pasta and ricotta mix into the buttered oven dish, and add in about 6 ladle fulls of the meat ragù. Gently and carefully, I stir the ragù through so all of the pasta is covered. I level it all in the dish and scoop up another 4 ladles of the ragù on top to add a layer of luscious meat sauce. I cover it all in grated cheesy goodness and some freshly ground black pepper, and I bake it in the oven for 25 - 30 minutes, until I get some beautiful caramelisation on top. And comes the hard part: I give it about 15-20mins to cool down before serving. When you make it, you’ll know why the waiting part is the hard part, but that fork going into the dish in the photo should be a big clue. Enjoy!

A little note on quantity: This recipe serves 4 - 6 adults, comfortably. Should you want to cook for 2 adults, I would recommend making the same quantity and then once fully cooled, portioning up the leftovers and freezing them individually. They will keep for about a month. To re-heat, you can do so in an oven at 180ºC for about 20 - 25 minutes (if defrosted) or as my nannu Joe used to do, melt some butter into a large frying pan, slice up the defrosted baked pasta and fry it off until hot and glistening (it may totally break in the process and that’s fine - it won’t matter I promise). You will thank him, and me later.