This pasta bake is a great dish to freeze ahead. Pennoni are the over-sized penne that can be stuffed like cannelloni. As they tend to absorb some of the sauce as they bake, you need more sauce than you would normally.
Ingredients
- 700g jar passata
- 100ml red wine
- 1 tsp light muscovado sugar
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- Pinch of crushed chilli flakes
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 250g packet dried pennoni or cannelloni (from major supermarkets)
- 2 tbsp finely grated Parmesan or Grana Padano
- Handful chopped fresh parsley, to garnish
For the filling
- 2 white bread slices, whizzed to crumbs in a food processor
- 70g pancetta slices, chopped
- 4 tbsp chopped fresh flatleaf parsley
- Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon
- 200g Taleggio, rind removed and diced
- 1 large free-range egg yolk
Method
- 1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/fan180°C/gas 6. Put the passata, wine, sugar, garlic, chilli and oil in a large pan. Season, bring to the boil, cover and simmer gently for 15 minutes.
- 2. Cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling water for 5 minutes, then drain and refresh under cold running water. Meanwhile, in a bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, pancetta, parsley, zest and juice, Taleggio and egg yolk. Push some filling into each pasta tube.
- 3. Pour half the sauce into a large ovenproof dish, then put the pasta on top in a single layer. Pour over the remaining sauce and scatter with the cheese. Bake for 25 minutes.
- 4. Cool completely, wrap well in cling film and freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost before reheating at 190°C/fan170°C/gas 5 for about 25 minutes or until piping hot. Cover with foil if browning too much. Sprinkle with chopped parsley to serve.
Nutritional info
Per serving: 627kcals, 27g fat (13.2g saturated), 27.9g protein, 68.2g carbs, 3.8g sugar, 1.7g salt
Chef's tip
Slightly undercook the pasta – it will finish cooking in the oven.
Baking the pasta dishes before freezing prevents the pasta sticking together.
You can reheat these in the microwave. Defrost, cover with cling film and cook for 4-5 minutes or until piping hot.