Broccoli Ricotta Pasta Bake
As I was making this and eating the small amount of leftover filling from the bowl I was thinking to myself 'why aren't people talking about broccoli more'. I'm a fan. This tomato sugo with anything is also just incredible!
Ingredients
- 250g conchiglioni (large pasta shells - sold at Coles)
- 100g Parmesan, finely grated
For the tomato sauce:
- ½ cup olive oil
- ½ bunch basil, leaves picked
- 6 cloves garlic, finely sliced
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 2 x 400g tins whole tomatoes
- 1 tsp sugar
For the broccoli stuffing:
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, finely sliced
- 1 broccoli head (approx 500g), cut into small dice
- 500g ricotta
- 100g Parmesan, finely grated
- Juice of 1 lemon
Serves 6
Method
- Preheat oven to 185°c.
- Heat olive oil over low heat in a large pan.
- Add garlic and a handful of large basil leaves and slowly simmer until garlic is very lightly golden.
- Remove garlic and basil from oil, reserve.
- Add onions to oil and sweat, still on low heat, until translucent.
- Crush in tinned tomatoes by hand, then add sugar, chilli flakes (optional), a really good pinch of salt, a few fresh basil leaves, and the garlic and basil from earlier.
- Cook on low for 45 minutes - 1 hour, stirring occasionally and breaking up tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon. It’s ready when the sauce has thickened, and tomatoes have begun to breadk down into the sauce.
- For the broccoli filling, heat olive oil over low heat in a large pan.
- Add garlic and sizzle until beginning to colour, then add broccoli and sauté until bright green (you don’t need to cook it well - it will cook further in the oven).
- Transfer broccoli to a bowl and combine with ricotta, 100g Parmesan and lemon juice, then season to taste with salt and pepper or chilli. For a really silky smooth stuffing, you can blend the ricotta using a blender, food processor or nutribullet before combining with the broccoli mix.
- Cook pasta in salty water until very al dente (minus about 3 minutes from the packet instructions cooking time).
- Spoon a thick layer of tomato sauce on the bottom of an ovenproof dish.
- Spoon broccoli stuffing into each conchiglioni shell, then layer on top of tomato sauce.
- Cover with more tomato sauce, then top with remaining Parmesan.
- Cook in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until the sauce is bubbling and the Parmesan is golden.