Creamy Tomato & Mascarpone Pasta Bake

Ingredients

• 500 g rigatoni
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 onions, finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves, finely grated
• ½ tsp chilli flakes
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• 400 ml passata
• 1 x 400 g tin chopped tomatoes
• 250 ml hot vegetable stock
• 250 g mascarpone
• 200 g frozen chopped spinach
• 250 g mozzarella, drained and torn
• 50 g parmesan, finely grated, divided
• 15 g basil leaves, torn
• Fine salt and black pepper

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C fan. Bring a large pan of well-salted water to the boil and cook the rigatoni for 2 minutes less than the packet timing. Reserve a mugful of cooking water, then drain.
2. Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof casserole over a medium heat. Add the onions with a pinch of salt and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until soft and golden at the edges. Add the garlic and chilli flakes for 30 seconds, then stir in the tomato purée and oregano for 1 minute.
3. Add the passata, chopped tomatoes, stock and sugar. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is glossy and thick enough to coat a spoon. The sugar is there only to round off sharp tomatoes, not make the sauce sweet.
4. Pull the pan off the heat and stir in the mascarpone until the sauce turns silky. Fold in the spinach, half the parmesan and most of the basil. Taste and add salt or black pepper if needed.
5. Turn the rigatoni through the sauce, loosening with a splash of cooking water if it feels tight. Scatter over the mozzarella and remaining parmesan, then bake for 25 minutes, until bubbling at the edges and deeply golden on top.
6. Rest for 5 minutes before serving. The pause lets the sauce settle onto the pasta instead of running across the plate. Finish with the remaining basil.