Baked Pasta with Tomatoes, Chorizo and Mozzarella

, from Issue #47. July, 2016
Photography by Manja Wachsmuth.
Baked Pasta with Tomatoes, Chorizo and Mozzarella

I love one dish meals and am always on the look-out at second hand stores for individual portion-sized cast iron sauté pans.

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS

300 grams fusilli pasta

Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
¼-½ teaspoon chilli flakes
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 x 400 gram tins chopped Italian tomatoes
½ cup cream
1 chorizo sausage, thinly sliced
2 large handfuls of baby spinach leaves
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan

To assemble
250 grams cottage cheese or ricotta
1 x 150 gram ball fresh mozzarella in whey (I used Clevedon Valley Buffalo)
extra Parmesan for topping

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 200˚C.

Pasta: Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of well salted boiling water until al dente. Drain and tip back into the saucepan and toss with a little olive oil.

Sauce: Put the oil in a large saucepan and when hot add the garlic, chilli, cinnamon and oregano and let it sizzle for a few seconds. Add the tomatoes, season and bring to the boil then simmer gently for 15 minutes. Add the cream, chorizo, spinach and Parmesan and stir to wilt the spinach then add the pasta.

Place a large spoonful of the pasta mix in the base of each dish then dot over half the cottage cheese or ricotta. Top with the remaining pasta and cottage cheese. Break the mozzarella into pieces and scatter over the top. Drizzle over a little olive oil and freshly ground pepper.

Bake for 10 minutes until the cheese has melted and the pasta is bubbling.