Farfalle al Forno
with Herby Chicken Meatballs
My man child Mike loves a pasta bake so this recipe is for him. This recipe is bloody homely and comforting. To lighten it up a little I used chicken mince for the meatballs which also have some cheeky veggies hiding away. Ideal if your feeding fussy wee ones! Bound with tomato sauce, topped with tonnes of cheese and delicious basil pesto, this pasta bake is a sure to be a hit! It’s also delicious maybe even better the next day! Use any pasta you feel for this and a good quality store brought pesto. If you don’t have a lovely lodge oven proof fry pan like me you should A. Get one haha and B. Start the dish in a pan and then transfer to an ovenproof dish.
Ingredients
(serves 4)
Meatballs
300g chicken mince
200g button mushrooms, grated
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 tsp dried oregano
Sauce
400g/1 can chopped tomatoes
400g/ 1 can tomato passata
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
Everything else
400g dried farfalle pasta
100g baby spinach
1 cup grated cheese (tasty, Colby, Edam are all good)
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
50g basil pesto
A handful of fresh basil leaves to serve
Roll It
Grate mushrooms and place in a large bowl with 300g chicken mince, 1 tsp oregano, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs and 1/2 tsp salt. Mix well with clean hands and roll into tablespoon size meatballs.
Cook It
Preheat oven to 200°C. Bring a medium pot of heavily salted water to the boil. Set aside a medium-large oven proof fry-pan. This is what you will cook the meatballs, sauce and then whole pasta bake in, so choose accordingly.
Heat a drizzle of olive oil in your oven proof fry-pan on high heat. Add meatballs and cook for about 6 minutes, until golden. Transfer to a bowl and set aside. It doesn’t matter if they are not cooked yet.
Return pan to medium high heat with a drizzle of olive oil. Add 2 minced garlic cloves and fry for about 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add canned tomatoes, tomato passata, tomato paste and a good 3 finger pinch of salt. Add about 1/4 cup of water to your passata can and swirl it around. Add that to your sauce too. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium and cook for about 5 minutes, until thickened.
Meanwhile, cook pasta for 6-8 minutes until almost cooked. It’s going in the oven so will cook more!
When Sauce has cooked stir through baby spinach, cooked pasta and meatballs. Here is where you would transfer it to a baking dish if you don’t have an ovenproof pan.
Bake It
Sprinkle cheese over the top of the pasta and bake for about 15 minutes, until gooey, golden and bubbly. Dollop over basil pesto and sprinkle over basil.