With so many great ratings, the general consensus is that this bake is “Easy and delicious – a real winner!” Everything can be cooked in the one pan, including the pasta, meaning there is very little washing up to do. No wonder this dish is so popular!
How to make a bacon and beef pasta bake: key tips
If you have a large ovenproof frying pan, you can cook this bake in the one pan, without the need to transfer the mixture from the frying pan to a baking dish, so that it can go into the oven.
Cook the bacon, onion and garlic in the pan first, so that the onion softens and the bacon starts to colour. Then add the beef mince and cook, breaking the mince up with a wooden spoon to prevent any lumps, until the mince is lovely and browned. The caramelisation of the mince, bacon and onion will add loads of flavour to your bake.
When you add the sauce, stock and vegies, bring the mixture to the boil, while stirring occasionally to ensure any of the flavours stuck on the base of the pan are incorporated into the mixture.
After stirring in the uncooked pasta, ensure that any pasta is submerged in the sauce so that it can absorb the liquid as it cooks in the oven.
Key ingredients in this bacon and beef pasta bake recipe
Regular beef mince and bacon rashers make this bake a meaty affair. To keep the fat content down, you can always use lean beef mince and short cut bacon.
Using a bought pasta sauce is a simple way to add a smack of flavour to a pasta bake. The cook uses a pasta sauce with red wine, but feel free to use whatever bought pasta sauce you prefer.
For the mixed vegetables, the cook uses grated carrot, grated zucchini, chopped capsicum or chopped champignons, depending on what they have at home at the time.
Spiral pasta is a great short pasta for any pasta bake as the spirals will help the sauce cling to the pasta. It’s also an easy pasta shape for kids to pick up on a fork.
Here are another 23 easy pasta bakes you may like to add to your rotation, as well as a delish-looking one-pan lasagne.
This recipe was originally submitted by kaer, a member of the Australia’s Best Recipe community. Introduction and additional recipe notes by Natasha Shaw.