Baked Meatball Pasta

Ingredients

• 500g beef mince
• 1 egg, beaten
• 50g fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 40g grated Parmesan
• 800g tinned chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 300g penne pasta
• Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
• 125g mozzarella, torn
• 10g fresh basil leaves (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan. In a large bowl, combine the mince, cooked red lentils, half the chopped onion, garlic, breadcrumbs, beaten egg, Parmesan and oregano. Season generously with salt and pepper — under-seasoned meatballs taste flat no matter how good the sauce is. Mix with your hands until evenly bound, then roll into 25–30g meatballs, around 20 in total.
2. Heat a splash of olive oil in a wide stainless or cast-iron frying pan over medium-high heat. Brown the meatballs in two or three batches, turning until deeply coloured on all sides — about 4–5 minutes per batch. Don't crowd the pan: all at once and they steam in their own juices instead of building a proper crust. They don't need to be cooked through. Lift out and set aside; leave the brown stuck bits in the pan — that's flavour.
3. Lower the heat, add the remaining onion and the chopped roasted red pepper to the same pan and cook for 5–6 minutes until softened and glossy, scraping up the fond as it loosens. Add the crushed garlic and stir for 30 seconds, just until fragrant and pale gold — don't let it burn or the sauce will turn bitter.
4. Stir in the tomato purée and let it sizzle for a minute to lose its raw edge, then pour in the tinned tomatoes with a good splash of water to loosen — the liquid breaks the tomatoes down so they taste of summer fruit, not tin. Simmer for 10–12 minutes until thickened and glossy. Taste, season, taste again — adjust salt now and add a pinch of sugar only if the tomatoes need balancing.
5. Meanwhile, cook the penne in well-salted boiling water — it should taste like the sea — for 2 minutes less than the packet says. It needs real bite; it'll finish cooking in the oven. Drain, reserving a mugful of pasta water.
6. Stir most of the sauce through the drained pasta, loosening with a splash of pasta water if it looks tight. Tip into a baking dish, nestle the browned meatballs in amongst the pasta, spoon over the remaining sauce and scatter the torn mozzarella across the top.
7. Bake for 20 minutes until the cheese is melted, blistered and golden, the sauce is bubbling at the edges and the pasta has crisped where it pokes through the top.
8. Rest for 5 minutes to settle. Scatter generously with torn basil, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and finish with a flurry of grated Parmesan at the table.