Sausage Pasta Bake!

One of the easiest and best weekday dinner ideas that I just adore… a sausage pasta bake is iconic, easy and delicious.

Just 15 minutes to prep, 30 minutes in the oven, and finished with a golden cheddar and crunchy breadcrumb topping that everyone fights over!

Savoury recipes

Are we saying hello to another savoury recipe already?! Yes, we are. And do you know why?! Because I have made this countless times over the years and you are all simply adoring my easy meal ideas at the minute so why not add another into the mix.

Macaroni cheese, bacon broccoli gnocchi bake, and even a chicken leek and bacon pie… I am adoring being able to post these savoury bakes for the oven because I always want an easy dinner idea, and if you want the inspiration, here it is.

Easy meal ideas

I adore cooking, and I always have. I trained at cookery school to become a chef and quickly went down the recipe development route instead, but it never stopped my love for savoury cooking. However, even though I was trained for high class fine dining, I am ALL about the easy meal ideas.

After a long day of work, or a busy week, why would you want to have to spend ages making something for dinner?! Because I know I wouldn’t. This is one of those easy dishes where you can prep it in 15 minutes, and then bake in the oven until crispy. It’s a popular bake amongst the family, and you can easily adapt it to something that you prefer.

Ingredients and substitutions

Nothing fancy here, just proper easy weeknight bits. Here is what each one is doing and how to swap it:

• Pasta – I use rigatoni, but any dried pasta shape works. A tube or twist shape holds the sauce best. Cook it to al dente so it doesn’t go mushy in the oven.
• Sausages – any standard sausages, chopped into inch-sized pieces. I leave the skins on because it doesn’t bother me, but you can squeeze the meat out if you prefer. Chicken or vegetarian sausages work brilliantly too.
• Tomatoes – tinned chopped tomatoes and tomato puree do the heavy lifting, with a handful of fresh tomatoes if you have them for extra freshness.
• Onion, pepper and garlic – a red onion and red pepper for sweetness, plus garlic for flavour. Brown onion or shallot is fine.
• Cheddar and breadcrumbs – this is my signature topping. Grated cheddar melts into a golden layer, and stale breadcrumbs on top bake into a lovely crunch. That crunch is the bit I would never skip.

The sauce

For the sauce part of this sausage pasta bake, I used what looks like a lot of ingredients, but it’s so easy to throw together that it’s worth it, I promise. Here is the order I work in so it comes together nicely:

1. Pour in the two tins of chopped tomatoes and the tomato puree, then simmer for a few minutes until saucy. Use one tin plus more fresh tomatoes if you want it a little less saucy.
2. Fry the red onion and chopped red pepper until they start to soften. (You can use a brown onion, shallot or frozen onion.)
3. Add the chopped sausages and fry until cooked through. I don’t take the skins off, but you can.
4. Stir in the garlic, oregano, chilli flakes, Italian herbs, salt and pepper. Add more or less spice to taste, and leave the chilli out if you hate any heat.
5. Add the fresh tomatoes (optional) and let them soften.

The pasta bake

I used rigatoni for my pasta, but ANY dried pasta works. You just need to make sure to cook the pasta to al-dente (so two minutes less than the packet time minimum) so that after it’s baked in the oven, the pasta isn’t too soft and turning to mush.

I mix my cooked pasta through the sauce and pour into my large baking dish. Use a large dish, roughly a 9×13 inch baking dish, as this makes a big amount, or split it between two smaller dishes. You can use any dish really, but this makes a large amount of pasta bake so make sure it’s big enough or do two smaller ones.

I sprinkle on some grated cheddar cheese as I love it, and then add on some stale breadcrumbs. You can leave off the breadcrumbs, and just have cheese, but I love the texture that the breadcrumbs bring to the pasta dish. You know it is ready when the top is golden, the edges are bubbling, and the breadcrumbs have crisped up. That breadcrumb crunch is the sign to pull it out.

Swaps

If you aren’t a fan of some ingredients, most can be swapped. Namely, the sausages. So, I used any standard sized sausage I buy and chop them into inch sized pieces, but if you aren’t a fan of them you can swap them. You can use other types of sausages such as chicken, vegetarian, or you can even leave them out.

Swapping in bacon, chicken, or even some roasted veggies are a good way of adding to this pasta bake, but that’s up to you. It’s the same when it comes to the spices as you can add far more or less, and adapt to what you prefer.

A few swaps at a glance:

• Make it vegetarian – use vegetarian sausages, or leave the sausage out and add roasted veggies like courgette, aubergine or mushrooms.
• Change the protein – swap the sausage for chopped bacon or cooked chicken.
• Change the pasta – any dried shape works, penne, fusilli or macaroni are all great instead of rigatoni.
• Adjust the spice – add more chilli flakes for heat, or leave them out completely for the kids.

Tips & tricks

• This is best served immediately
• You can reheat this by covering with foil and baking at 170ºc fan for 30 minutes 
• You can freeze this dish for 3+ months 
• Swap the sausages for other versions such as chicken or vegetarian
• Swap the spices for whatever spices you prefer
• Serve with a fresh salad or garlic bread (or both!) 
• Breadcrumbs/cheese toppings are optional but delicious. 
• To avoid a watery sauce or mushy pasta, simmer the sauce until it has thickened before mixing, and always cook the pasta to al dente as it softens more in the oven.

Make ahead, storage, reheating and freezing

This is a brilliant one to get ahead on. You can assemble the whole thing, topping and all, cover it and keep it in the fridge for up to a day, then bake it fresh when you need it (add 5 to 10 minutes as it goes in cold). Leftovers keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

To reheat, cover with foil and bake at 170ºC fan for around 30 minutes until piping hot, which keeps it saucy and re-crisps the top better than a microwave (though a microwave is fine for a single portion). It also freezes beautifully for 3+ months, either baked or unbaked, so defrost fully in the fridge before reheating.

Sausage pasta bake FAQ