Name: Baked pasta cake with tomato sauce and sweet and sour onions
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 2 h
Yield: Serves 6–8
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 60g/2¼oz raisins; 2 tbsp olive oil; 3 onions, sliced; 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced; 25g/1oz caster sugar; 2 tbsp moscatel vinegar; 50g/3½oz pine nuts, toasted; 2 tbsp olive oil; 4 garlic cloves, crushed; 2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped; 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar; 2 tbsp red wine vinegar; 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes; large pinch dried red chilli flakes; 2 tbsp fresh basil stalks, roughly chopped; salt and freshly ground black pepper; 250g/9oz rigatoni; 125g/4½oz fontina cheese, grated; 165g/6oz grated Parmesan; 1 tbsp fresh mint leaves, chopped or left whole; 1 tbsp fresh basil leaves, chopped or left whole; 1 tbsp fresh flatleaf parsley leaves, chopped or left whole; 50g/1¾oz unsalted butter, softened, for greasing; 200g/7oz fresh breadcrumbs, plus 50g/1¾oz fresh, toasted breadcrumbs, to garnish

Baked pasta cake with tomato sauce and sweet and sour onions

Prepare: less than 30 mins
Cook: 1 to 2 hours
Serve: Serves 6–8
Dietary: Egg-free Pregnancy-friendly

This pasta cake is easy to make, but is an impressive step up from your standard pasta bake!

By Matt Tebbutt

From Saturday Kitchen

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Ingredients

For the sweet and sour onions

60g/2¼oz raisins
2 tbsp olive oil
3 onions, sliced
3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
25g/1oz caster sugar
2 tbsp moscatel vinegar
50g/3½oz pine nuts, toasted

For the tomato sauce

2 tbsp olive oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
large pinch dried red chilli flakes
2 tbsp fresh basil stalks, roughly chopped
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the pasta cake

250g/9oz rigatoni
125g/4½oz fontina cheese, grated
165g/6oz grated Parmesan
1 tbsp fresh mint leaves, chopped or left whole
1 tbsp fresh basil leaves, chopped or left whole
1 tbsp fresh flatleaf parsley leaves, chopped or left whole
50g/1¾oz unsalted butter, softened, for greasing
200g/7oz fresh breadcrumbs, plus 50g/1¾oz fresh, toasted breadcrumbs, to garnish

Method

To make the onions, place the raisins in a bowl of boiling water and leave to soak. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the onions and garlic for around 30 minutes over a very low heat so they do not colour.
Drain the raisins. Add the sugar, vinegar, pine nuts and raisins to the onion pan and cook for a further 5 minutes. Set aside.
To make the tomato sauce, heat the oil in a saucepan and fry the garlic and shallots for 5–8 minutes. Add the vinegars followed by the tomatoes, chilli and basil stalks. Simmer until the sauce has thickened. Season with salt and pepper.
To make the pasta cake, preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
Cook the rigatoni in a large pan of salted boiling water according to pack instructions. Drain once al dente.
Place the cooked pasta, the tomato sauce, half of the fontina, 45g/1¾oz Parmesan and half of the herbs into a large bowl and mix well.
Grease a 20cm/8in springform cake tin with the butter. Line all of the tin with the breadcrumbs and layer half of the sweet and sour onions in the base, then add the pasta.
Scatter over the remaining fontina, 45g/1¾oz Parmesan and the remaining sweet and sour onions.
Bake for 30 minutes. Leave to cool a little before turning out.
Garnish with the rest of the fresh herbs, toasted breadcrumbs and the remaining Parmesan.