Easy Meal Prep Pasta Bake
If you have spaghetti bolognese in your cooking arsenal, this pasta bake is a breeze to make! Just make extra when cooking spag bol, and meal prep this dish.
Servings 4 -6
Ingredients
- olive oil
- 250 g beef mince
- 250 g mixed vegetables finely chopped. e.g., bell peppers, onions, sweetcorn, aubergine, courgettes, mushrooms. You can use fresh or frozen
- large jar of bolognese sauce or cook your own, but this is easy meal prep remember!
- mixed dried herbs optional
- chopped garlic optional
- 500 g fusilli pasta dried weight
- small jar of bechamel sauce optional
- 150 g Cheddar grated
Instructions
- Heat a little olive oil in a pan and brown off the mince for about 5 minutes.
- Add your choice of vegetables and cook for 5-10 minutes till softened.
- Pour in the bolognese sauce - you can add extra herbs or garlic if you like - depends on the sauce doesn't it?!
- Bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile cook the pasta in a pan of boiling water for 10 minutes (or according to the package instructions).
- Drain the pasta, add it to the pan of meat sauce, and stir to combine.
- Transfer the pasta and sauce to an ovenproof dish and even out.
- Spread the bechamel sauce over the pasta, then top with grated cheese.
- See notes for cooking and serving instructions
Notes
If meal prepping, cover the finished dish with foil or plastic wrap and place in the fridge.
If you don't like putting hot food in the fridge, allow to cool for about an hour (but no more than two hours).
This dish can be frozen too - cool in the fridge first then transfer to the freezer. You can cook it from frozen, or defrost in the fridge.
To cook from chilled - 200C/400F/Gas 6 for 30-40 minutes or until piping hot throughout.
To cook from frozen - 190C/375F/Gas 5, cover with foil and cook for 1 hour. Remove foil and cook for another 10-15 minutes to brown if required. Ensure food is piping hot throughout.