Recipe for a pasta bake sauce, using uncooked pasta, please?

foreign_correspondent

Hi,

Last week I went away with my mum for a few days and ended up buying a jar of the Homepride Pasta Bake sauce (Creamy tomato I think) - the stuff where you bung the sauce and some water into a pot with some raw pasta and bung it in the oven.

I used to buy this ages ago, and it was quite handy. I have tried adding tomato sauce and water to pasta and cooking it in the oven but it hasnt been as nice, and I am never quite sure how wet it should be, so tend to resort to using cooked pasta and just finishing it in the oven.

What I would like is a recipe for a sauce which works like the Homepride ones - straight onto dry pasta.

I did see the author of "How to Feed Your Whole Family a Healthy Balanced Diet, with Very Little Money and Hardly Any Time..." describing a pasta bake sauce made from 1 litre of tomato juice, quark and herbs, but she did not make it clear if this was for dry pasta or not - I'm also not convinced it would work out that cheap as tomato juice is about 80p a litre from lidl (however, if its delicious then thats not a concern!).

Any ideas appreciated!

ta

fc

Triker

This any good to ya, great question btw, always wanted to know this myself


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1142755&highlight=pasta+bake+sauce

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1071375&highlight=pasta+bake+sauce

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=543269&highlight=pasta+bake+sauce

Triker

I reckon you could get away with dried pasta and then plonk some additional water onto the pasta as you do with the jar sauces.

VfM4meplse

I think you can experiment for a long time with the uncooked pasta / sauce of own concoction method and waste a lot of pasta in the process. Why not just cook it first?

One of the easiest and best pasta sauces is definitely a spoonful of pesto stirred in and plenty of black pepper. Not too pricey and if you want to make it slightly creamier add a tiny bit of the water you cooked the pasta in (the starch gives the dish a creamy texture).

foreign_correspondent

VfM4meplse wrote: »

I think you can experiment for a long time with the uncooked pasta / sauce of own concoction method and waste a lot of pasta in the process. Why not just cook it first?

mainly cos I am lazy!! :rotfl:

As for pesto -

I am not really a fan of pesto actually - dont really 'get' it!

VfM4meplse

Try the tomato version instead, again a v. concentrated taste so you don't need more than a spoonful but far lower basil content. Sacla is fantastic, in fact I often spread it in sandwiches to make them more lively.

foreign_correspondent

okey dokey - there is something about the texture of a pasta bake that I really like, and I want a one pot sort of thing - I cannot be bothered to boil then bake the pasta!

After googling a lot, I did just find the answer!! It is possible!!:T

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/uk-books/images/ThriftyChristmas._V242160327_.pdf

There is a recipe for a salmon pasta bake here, the sauce is basically 3 tins of chopped toms and half a tub of soft cheese, and she adds salmon and sweetcorn to the dish, and tops it with cheese and crushed crisps!!

I would use tuna instead of salmon, and leave the crisps out, but otherwise it sounds good!

foreign_correspondent

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Try the tomato version instead, again a v. concentrated taste so you don't need more than a spoonful but far lower basil content. Sacla is fantastic, in fact I often spread it in sandwiches to make them more lively.

Yeah, I have - still not keen! Sorry

I think its the texture.

foreign_correspondent

Triker wrote: »

This any good to ya, great question btw, always wanted to know this myself


http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1142755&highlight=pasta+bake+sauce

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1071375&highlight=pasta+bake+sauce

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=543269&highlight=pasta+bake+sauce

Thanks, just skimming through these now - seems like most people cook the pasta first, though some have had sucess with sauce plus extra water - I will try the recipe I posted the link to, sometime this week and will let you know how it comes out!

ta

fc x

justpeyton4now

The only pasta type bake I do with dry noodles is lasagna. I get the cheap tomato based sauce from B&M and add my own herbs and seasonings to it. I also add some veg (onions, peppers, courgette, grated carrot) to stretch it further. I spoon on a bit of extra sauce in between layers and it's always done fine for me.

For other pasta dishes with a sauce, I cook my pasta first. Then I mix the sauce in with the drained pasta and heat thoroughly in the pot I cooked the pasta in. I sometimes then toss it in a baking dish and put cheese on it. Under the grill for a couple of moments to melt/brown the cheese and you're done. Depending on the herbs, seasonings, veg you add, you can have totally different tastes in the sauce. Also as already mentioned, add soft cheese for a creamy taste.

cats_whiskers

Hi

Reading your request for a recipe that uses uncooked pasta reminded me of a pasta dish I used to make many years ago we called Macaroni Crunch, although I suppose you could make it with any type of uncooked pasta.

2 onions, chopped and peeled and fried in tablespoon oil. 8oz /225g macaroni.
1 can tomatoes 14oz/400g. 8oz cheddar cheese.

in a deep casserole dish layer the onion, uncooked pasta, tomatoes,cheese, ending with a layer of cheese. Bake 160c/325f/Gas 3 for 1 hour. Serves 4.

mmm may have to give this a try again sometime soon.

Cats:j

.