Turkey Meatball Pasta Bake with Hidden Spinach

Ingredients

• 500g turkey mince
• 2 garlic cloves, finely grated
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp fennel seeds, lightly crushed
• ½ tsp dried chilli flakes
• 30g Parmesan, finely grated
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 320g rigatoni or penne
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
• 120g baby spinach
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 250g mozzarella, torn
• 40g Parmesan, finely grated
• fresh basil leaves, roughly torn, to serve
• extra virgin olive oil, to drizzle, to serve
• Parmesan, finely grated, to serve
• ciabatta, to serve
• crisp green salad, to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C fan. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and salt it generously — it should taste like the sea. This is your only chance to season the pasta itself.
2. Tip the turkey mince into a bowl with the grated garlic, oregano, crushed fennel seeds, chilli flakes and Parmesan. Season generously with salt and black pepper — turkey is lean and bland without it — then roll into 20 walnut-sized meatballs.
3. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large ovenproof frying pan or wide casserole over a high heat until it shimmers. Brown the meatballs in two batches, 5–6 minutes per batch, turning until deep golden on all sides. Crowd them in all at once and the pan cools, water comes out, and you've boiled them instead of browning them. Transfer to a plate.
4. Reduce the heat to medium and add 1 tbsp olive oil to the same pan — those browned stuck bits are flavour. Fry the diced onion for 5 minutes, scraping up the fond as it softens, until translucent and just starting to catch at the edges.
5. Add the sliced garlic and tomato purée and cook for 60 seconds, stirring constantly, until the garlic is fragrant and pale gold and the purée has darkened a shade. Don't let the garlic burn — it turns the whole sauce bitter in seconds.
6. Pour in both tins of chopped tomatoes along with a splash of water swirled through the empty tins, then add the dried oregano. The water breaks the tomatoes down so they taste of summer fruit, not tin. Season well and simmer for 8 minutes, stirring now and again, until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
7. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in the salted boiling water for 2 minutes less than the packet says — it'll finish cooking in the oven. Drain, keeping a mugful of the starchy water back.
8. Fold the spinach into the tomato sauce in two handfuls, stirring for 1–2 minutes until fully wilted and disappeared into the red. Stir in a small squeeze of lemon if you have one to hand — the acid lifts the tomatoes — then taste and adjust the salt and pepper now, not at the table.
9. Add the drained pasta to the sauce with a splash of pasta water and toss to coat every tube. Nestle the browned meatballs back into the pan, pushing them halfway down into the sauce.
10. Scatter the torn mozzarella and grated Parmesan evenly over the top. Bake for 12–15 minutes until the cheese is bubbling, blistered and golden in patches.
11. Bring the pan straight to the table. Scatter over the torn basil leaves, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, and serve with warm ciabatta, a crisp green salad alongside, and extra Parmesan to grate over each bowl.