Tomato and Mascarpone Pasta Bake

A tomato and mascarpone pasta bake that you put together within 15 minutes, full of delicious vegetables, ground beef, and a creamy mascarpone tomato sauce. An easy recipe for busy days.

Can you ever have enough recipes with macaroni pasta? Meh, probably not. Because macaroni has it all: simple, fast, the delicious flavors of Italian cuisine and it is real comfort food. You can already find a delicious recipe for super fast macaroni and a Mac and cheese casserole (with three delicious cheeses).

Italian Cuisine

In my family, Italian cuisine ranks high, very high on the "we like very much" ranking. And this tomato and mascarpone pasta bake with ground beef and cheese, is deliciously filled and has such a delicious creamy taste, was very popular.

And I loved it for another reason: because this is the IDEAL recipe for those busy weekdays, when it seems like everyone has to go to school, to sports or other clubs. And, oh yeah, mom what are we eating today?

This casserole dish is ready in just fifteen minutes and then only has to bake in the oven, it is super easy. And if it is really not possible to all sit at the table, I make different oven dishes and everyone can eat at their own time.

This recipe is adapted from the Dutch blog Kookidee.

A tomato and pasta bake is delicious comfort food and easy to prepare. A great casserole recipe for busy days!

Jump to:

• Italian Cuisine
• History of macaroni
• Side dishes
• 📖 Recipe

History of macaroni

Where and when Macaroni originated is not certain, but around the year 1000, the first recipe was written down in an Italian cookbook. So it definitely is around for quite some time.

Macaroni is made from durum wheat and water. And although there are special attachments for the pasta machine, it is usually bought ready-made. The round shape of the macaroni (also called elbow macaroni) is made by forming the dough over a ring.

In the Netherlands when we're talking about macaroni, we actually mean elbows, but macaroni can certainly also be quite different. In Belgium for instance, it's a hollow pasta that is shaped, yet slightly thicker than spaghetti. 

The differences arose because macaroni is actually a collective name for dry pasta without eggs, which is hollow. As a result, if you order Macaroni in Italy you can also get a plate with Penne which also meets that criteria.

• Macaroni - Thin macaroni is best for this casserole, otherwise, it will turn into bites of dough.
• Ground beef - Ground beef has a lot of flavor and fits well in this oven dish.
• Mascarpone - A thick cream cheese that, when combined with the sieved tomatoes, gives a smooth creamy sauce.
• Grated cheese - Use a cheese, like Gouda for a lot of flavor.
• Sun-dried tomatoes - For a delicious bite in this oven dish. Even better than sun-dried tomatoes are semi-sun-dried tomatoes (I can eat a bowl of that).
• Sugar - The sugar brings out the sweetness in the tomato. You don't need much of it, but it does make it tastier.

Step 1 - Preparations

1. Wash the zucchini and cut into small cubes of about ½ x ½ inch (1 x 1 cm). You can leave the skin on, it gives flavor and beautiful color.
2. Scrape the carrots and cut them into small cubes. About ¼ x ¼ inch (½ x ½ cm) (carrots take a little longer to cook).
3. Grease an oven dish (which is a good thing when you've got to the point that you wash the dishes later).
4. Cook the macaroni according to the package (al dente). Drain and rinse under cold water. That way the cooking process stops.

Step 2 - Bake the ground beef

1. Saute the onion over medium heat for three minutes until translucent. Add the minced beef to the skillet and brown it.
2. Then add the tomato paste. Bake that for two minutes. The tomato paste will become sweeter as it bakes.

Step 3 - Prepare the filling and tomato mascarpone sauce

1. Add the leek, courgette, and carrot cubes, and strips of sun-dried tomatoes to the pan and fry for 5 minutes, stirring continuously.
2. Pour in the passata (sieved tomatoes) and stir the mascarpone cheese and sugar into the sauce. Mix everything.
3. Shake half of the grated cheese into the skillet and stir into the sauce. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the Italian herbs.
4. Turn off the heat and add the macaroni to the sauce and mix well.

Step 4 - Tomato and mascarpone pasta bake

1. Spoon the contents of the skillet into the baking dish and smooth out.
2. Sprinkle the rest of the grated cheese over the oven dish. Place the dish in a preheated oven (350 °F/180 °C) for 15 minutes, so that you get a nice au gratin. Serve the tomato and mascarpone pasta bake and minced meat with a delicious green salad!

This recipe for a tomato and mascarpone pasta bake is really great, but if you want to adjust the recipe to your taste or replace an ingredient with something from your pantry, I have a few nice suggestions here.

• Vegetarian: if you like to eat a vegetarian casserole, you can easily replace the minced beef with ½ pound (300 grams) of vegetarian minced meat. You can also choose to replace the minced meat with ½ pound (300 grams) of lentils and a clove of garlic.
• Gluten-Free: Make this recipe gluten-free by replacing the macaroni with gluten-free macaroni.
• Skinny: Replace the mascarpone with an equal amount of cream. You can also replace the ground beef with ground chicken. And double the amount of zucchini cubes and carrots and reduce the amount of macaroni to 2 cups (uncooked) (300 grams).
• Replace the sun-dried tomatoes with semi-sun-dried tomatoes. These have much more flavor.
• You can also replace the mascarpone with sour cream or, with a slimmer version, an equal amount of whipped cream.
• Also consider other vegetables such as eggplant, fresh tomatoes, and broccoli (cook the latter 6 minutes before you use them in your casserole).
• As your choice of pasta you can of course opt for the whole grain variant, for more fiber. And if you don't have macaroni, you can also substitute it with penne or fusilli. Due to their shape, the sauce also sticks well to this pasta.

• This is ideal for browning the meat and frying the vegetables. It is sufficiently large (10.5 inches (26 cm) in diameter), has a good coating to prevent sticking (which in turn saves washing up) and you can use it on all heat sources. And you can clean it in the dishwasher. 
• With this , you can quickly finely chop all vegetables and herbs. The knife is sharp and stays sharp and lies comfortably in the hand. If you have to pick one knife for your kitchen, this is the one I recommend! 
• This is sufficiently large and deep to make the tomato and mascarpone pasta bake. It is made of aluminum and that ensures that the heat is evenly distributed in the oven (so that your dish is equally warm and cooked throughout). It has a non-stick coating and is therefore easy to clean.

This recipe can be made in advanced quite well and therefor you need only a few steps to prepare on the day of serving. And you can freeze this casserole quite well.

• Preparation in advance and storage: make the oven dish up to 2 days in advance up to and including step 13 (put everything into the oven dish). Cover the baking dish with plastic wrap and keep it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking and allow it to come to room temperature slightly (otherwise, the baking dish may burst). Just before baking, sprinkle with grated cheese and put the dish in the oven for 25 minutes (you will increase the cooking time by 10 minutes).
• Store leftovers in the refrigerator: Let the leftovers cool down to room temperature. You can store leftovers airtight in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
• Freeze leftovers: You can also pack leftovers airtight and store them in the freezer. That way it can be stored for up to 2 months. Allow the pasta bake to thaw in the refrigerator one day before serving. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking and place in the baking dish. This allows it to reach room temperature. Cover in the oven for 25 minutes (250 °F / 180 °C) to warm.

• Boil the macaroni in salted water and stir regularly. Italians always cook their pasta, to get the best taste, in salted water. And by stirring the pasta won't stick together.
• Bake the tomato paste before adding the vegetables. By baking the flavor changes from sour to sweet. Not only can you taste the difference, but you can also smell it.
• Check the casserole every 5 minutes while baking in the oven if it's not browning too hard. Otherwise, cover it with aluminum foil.

Side dishes

With this mascarpone and tomato pasta bake you can serve some delicious side dishes, like:

• Focaccia with basil and Parmesan cheese
• Vegetarian arugula salad with pistachios
• Tomato salad with pesto and pine nuts

📖 Recipe