High proteinHigh carb

Beef Pasta Bake

Season the mince harder than feels right; pasta dilutes it.

45 min Serves 3 Stove, Frying pan, Saucepan, Oven

Per serving

558

kcal

41.3 g

protein

49 g

carbs

21.8 g

fat

7.4 g protein per 100 kcal · 3.8 g fibre. Calculated from the exact weights below using standard food composition data, so they are close estimates rather than lab values.

Full screen, one step at a time, with timers and how-to guides. Free, no sign-up.

Your marks stay on this device. Solviro Max uses them to put recipes like the ones you liked first.

Ingredients

For 3 servings.

  • Beef mince 5% fat300 g
  • Pasta, dry weight150 g
  • Passata350 g
  • Onion100 g
  • Cheddar cheese80 g
  • Olive oil12 g

Method

  1. 1Brown the mince hard, add onion, then the passata, simmer 15 minutes.
  2. 2Boil the pasta two minutes short and fold it through.
  3. 3Cheese over, bake at 200°C for 20 minutes.

New to cooking? Read this first

The techniques and safety points this recipe uses, explained from scratch.

Mince, burgers and sausages: no pink in the middleShow

Whole steaks can be served pink because bacteria live on the outside, which gets seared. Mincing mixes the outside into the middle, so minced meat must be cooked right through.

  1. Break mince apart in the pan with a wooden spoon so every bit touches the heat.
  2. Keep cooking until there is no pink or red left anywhere and it looks evenly brown.
  3. For burgers and sausages, cut the thickest one open to check the centre.

Ready when: Brown all the way through, no pink, juices clear and steaming hot.

Browning minceShow

Browned mince tastes deeper than grey, boiled-looking mince.

  1. Turn the heat up to medium-high before the mince goes in.
  2. Add it and leave it for a minute or two to colour underneath, then break it into small pieces with a wooden spoon.
  3. Keep stirring and breaking it up until there is no pink left and bits are browning. If lots of liquid appears, keep going until it cooks off.
Cooking pastaShow

Plenty of salty, fast-boiling water and a taste near the end are the whole secret.

  1. Use about 1 litre of water per 100 g of pasta. Bring it to a rolling boil, THEN add salt — about a level teaspoon per litre.
  2. Add the pasta and stir for the first minute so it doesn't stick together. No oil needed.
  3. Start tasting a piece 1–2 minutes before the time on the packet. 'Al dente' means soft but with a slight firm bite in the very middle.
  4. Before draining, scoop out a mug of the cooking water. A splash of it makes sauces glossy and helps them cling.
  5. Drain, don't rinse, and mix with the sauce straight away.
Browning and searing meatShow

The brown crust is flavour. It forms only on a dry surface in a hot pan — wet meat or a crowded pan just steams.

  1. Pat the meat dry with kitchen paper. Season it.
  2. Get the oil hot (shimmering, maybe a wisp of smoke).
  3. Lay the pieces in, away from you so the fat doesn't spit towards you, with space between them.
  4. Then leave them alone for 2–4 minutes. Don't poke. When the underside is brown the meat lets go of the pan by itself — if it sticks, it isn't ready to turn.
  5. Turn and brown the other side. Browning adds flavour; it does not make meat safe on its own — it still has to be cooked through.
Simmer vs boil — what the bubbles tell youShow

A boil is big bubbles rolling hard across the whole surface. A simmer is much gentler: small bubbles rising lazily, a few breaking the surface. Stews, sauces and soups simmer; boiling makes meat tough and sauces catch on the bottom.

  1. Bring it up to the boil on a higher heat, then turn the heat down until the bubbling calms to a gentle simmer.
  2. Check every few minutes and adjust — a lid on makes it hotter, a lid off lets it thicken.
  3. Stir now and then, scraping the bottom, so nothing sticks and burns.

Ready when: Small, steady bubbles — not a still surface, not a rolling boil.

What can you make with what's in your fridge?

Tick what you have and Solviro's Meal Builder shows every meal you can cook right now, with the macros worked out. Free.

Open the Meal Builder

Made with similar ingredients

All 252 recipes

A standard home version of a well-known dish, written for Solviro. Nutrition is estimated from ingredient weights and will vary with brands and portions.