Baked Mostaccioli

To prepare the baked mostaccioli, start by peeling the onion. Wet the knife before chopping to avoid tears. Put the chopped onion in a pan, add a drizzle of oil and let it brown for a few minutes.

At this point, add the ground beef and the sprig of rosemary. Brown the meat well and it will be cooked in a few minutes.

Now add the tomato paste. Mix and season with salt and pepper.

Let the sauce cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once ready, remove the rosemary.

Cut the mozzarella into cubes.

Drain the pasta al dente (or use leftover pasta). Add the pasta to the sauce and mix well by adding half of the grated cheese.

Put the pasta in a baking dish and add the mozzarella on the top. Cover with the remaining grated Parmigiano Reggiano and bake at 200 ° C for about 25 minutes. When the baked mostaccioli is perfectly au gratin on the surface, take it out of the oven and serve, adding chopped parsley to taste.
 

Tips & Tricks

One of the tricks to make perfect baked mostaccioli is to cook the pasta al dente. For Italians, cooking pasta is a sacred thing and it is therefore important to respect the cooking times on the packaging so that it maintains the right consistency.

Brown the meat very well so that the sauce cooks faster.
 

Make Ahead

You can prepare your baked mostaccioli in advance and store it in the refrigerator before putting it in the oven. You can also freeze the baked mostaccioli to use them when needed. Just defrost and put it in the oven for about twenty minutes.
 

Make it Vegan

To prepare the vegan version of baked mostaccioli, replace the beef with pre-cooked lentils. You will get a delicious vegan ragú. For garnish, you can use tofu instead of mozzarella and chopped cashews to replace the grated cheese. To obtain a perfect gratin, add a sprinkling of breadcrumbs to the surface.