Three tomatoey pasta dishes this week, one to see out the summer and two to welcome the new school term. After all, there’s no escaping it: kids will always eat pasta with tomato sauce, and parents will always need a few good recipes up their sleeves to satisfy those little (and big) eaters.
Pastit*io
This comforting Greek macaroni pie is usually baked in a casserole dish or baking tray, but I like the cake-like wedges that come from cooking it in a round tin; use a traditional rectangular one, if you prefer. Bucatini is a thick, spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through its centre. It’s the perfect match here, but penne or rigatoni would work just as well, if that’s all you can get. Serves four, generously.
3 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
1 large celery stick, trimmed and cut into 0.5cm dice
1 carrot, peeled, trimmed and cut into 0.5cm dice
2 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced
400g minced beef
6 ripe plum tomatoes, blanched, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
1½ tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp paprika
15g parsley leaves, roughly chopped
1½ tsp dark brown sugar
Salt
1 egg white, lightly whisked
30g basil leaves, roughly torn
80g extra-mature cheddar, grated
80g parmesan
250g bucatini
For the béchamel
300ml whole milk
1 small onion, peeled and halved
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
30g unsalted butter
25g plain flour
3 egg yolks
40g parmesan, finely grated
40g extra-mature cheddar, grated
Start with the sauce. Heat two tablespoons of oil in a large saute pan for which you have a lid. Once hot, add the onion, celery, carrot and garlic and fry, stirring regularly, on a medium-high heat for 12 minutes, until soft and caramelised. Add the beef and stir continuously for three minutes, to break up the meat, so it browns all over. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, spices, parsley, sugar and one and a quarter teaspoons of salt, turn down the heat to medium, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Take off the lid and simmer for another five minutes, until the sauce thickens, then remove from the heat and leave to cool a little. Fold in the egg white, basil, cheddar and 60g parmesan, and set aside.
While the sauce is cooking, make the béchamel. Pour the milk into a small saucepan with the onion and nutmeg, and put on a medium heat. Keep on the heat for six to seven minutes, until just starting to simmer, set aside for 20 minutes, to infuse, then strain into a jug and discard the onion. Clean the pan, add the butter and put on a medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the flour and stir constantly for two minutes, until it has formed a thick paste. Pour in the infused milk in a slow, steady stream, stirring continuously, and cook for three to four minutes, until the sauce is thick and smooth. Remove from the heat, then stir in the egg yolks, cheeses and a quarter-teaspoon of salt.
Heat the oven to 200C/390F/gas mark 6. Line a round, 25cm, high-sided cake tin with a removable base with two layers of baking parchment. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook for eight minutes (or according to the instructions on the packet), until al dente. Drain, return the pasta to the pan and stir in a tablespoon of oil. Lay half the pasta around the base of the prepared tin, spoon all the mince on top, then cover with the remaining pasta. Pour over the béchamel and sprinkle over the remaining parmesan.
Bake for 25 minutes, until golden-brown on top and bubbling, remove and leave to rest for 10 minutes. Release the pasta “cake” from its tin, cut into wedges and serve.
Rigatoni with fennel sausage sauce and pecorino-and-anchovy pesto
There’s a lot of flavour going on in the sausage sauce, so leave out the pesto if you prefer: the dish works beautifully topped with pecorino shavings instead. Serves four.
About 2½ tbsp olive oil
6 Italian fennel sausages (400g), cut into 1.5cm-thick slices
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and roughly chopped; reserve any fronds to garnish
½ tsp smoky paprika
1 garlic clove, peeled and sliced
2 tsp fennel seeds, lightly toasted and then gently crushed
100ml red wine
400g tinned chopped tomatoes
½ tsp caster sugar
Salt
50g pitted black olives, cut in half lengthways
500g rigatoni
Salt
For the pecorino and anchovy pesto
30g pecorino, roughly crumbled into 0.5cm pieces
1 anchovy fillet, rinsed and patted dry
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
60ml olive oil
50g basil leaves, torn
Put all the pesto ingredients except the basil in the small bowl of a food processor. Add a tablespoon of water and blitz to a rough paste. Add the basil, then blitz until just combined (the pesto has a much better texture if the basil is not overblended).
Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large saute pan for which you have a lid. Add the sausage pieces and fry on a medium-high heat for 10 minutes, stirring regularly, until golden-brown all over. Transfer the sausages to a plate, then add the onion and fennel to the hot pan and fry for 15 minutes, stirring once in a while, until soft and caramelised; if the pan goes a bit dry, add a teaspoon or so of extra oil. Stir in the paprika, garlic and half the fennel seeds, fry for two minutes more, then pour on the wine and boil for 30 seconds, to reduce by half. Add the tomatoes, sugar, 100ml water, the seared sausage and half a teaspoon of salt, cover and simmer for 30 minutes; remove the lid after 10 minutes, and cook until the sauce is thick and rich. Remove from the heat, stir through the olives and remaining fennel seeds and set aside until you’re ready to serve.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and cook for 12-14 minutes (or according to the instructions on the packet), until al dente. Meanwhile, reheat the sauce. Drain the pasta, return it to the pot, stir in a tablespoon of oil, then divide between the bowls. Spoon over the ragù and top with a spoonful of pesto. Finish with a sprinkling of chopped fennel fronds, if you have any, and serve at once.
Spaghetti with cherry tomato sauce
I’d be inclined to buy a big batch of tomatoes and make double the amount of sauce needed for this: it freezes brilliantly, and is comforting to have to hand when you need a quick fix of summer in the depths of winter. Leave out the ancho chillies, if you prefer, especially if you plan to feed this to little ones. Serves four.
90ml olive oil
2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced very thinly
1kg cherry tomatoes, cut in half
½ tsp caster sugar (or a bit more or less, depending on the tomatoes’ sweetness)
2 dried ancho chillies, roughly torn
Salt
20g basil leaves, torn, plus 5g extra, finely chopped just before serving, to garnish
400g spaghetti
35g parmesan, finely grated
Put 75ml of the oil in a large saute pan on a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the garlic and fry for up to a minute, stirring a few times, until it’s just starting to caramelise. Add the tomatoes (be gentle, or the oil may spit), sugar, chillies and half a teaspoon of salt. Add 200ml water and stir through for four minutes, until the tomatoes are starting to break down and the liquid is bubbling. Turn down the heat to medium-low and cook for an hour, stirring every once in a while, until the tomatoes have completely broken down and the sauce has thickened. Stir through the torn basil and keep somewhere warm.
Bring a large saucepan of salted water to boil, add the pasta and cook for 10-12 minutes (or according to the instructions on the packet), until the pasta is cooked but still retains a bite. Drain, return the pasta to the pan and stir in the remaining oil. Divide the spaghetti between the bowls, spoon over the tomato sauce, sprinkle over the parmesan and serve at once, with a sprinkle of finely chopped basil on top.
