This Gooey Cheesy Pasta Bake is the American version of the Greek dish Pastitsio. It’s a combination of cooked pasta in meat sauce mixed together then topped with a creamy bechamel sauce. The dish gets baked in a 9×13 dish in the oven until bubbly and golden brown on top. It’s the ultimate comfort food.
The meat sauce consists of two kinds of meat: sweet Italian sausage and lean ground beef. Don’t go any fattier than 80/20. Allow that meat to caramelize in the pan without burning. Keep the heat on low medium to achieve this. The rest of the ingredients include crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, sugar, seasonings and fresh chopped parsley. If you need a shortcut then use two jars of Rao’s marinara.
If you want more pasta based recipes be sure to check out my Bolognese and Bechamel Lasagna, traditional lasagna , and my most viral recipe Better than Olive Garden Fettuccine Alfredo.
Tips for the Best Gooey Cheesy Pasta Bake
- Don’t over-cook your pasta noodles. They should be strained just before they reach al dente.
- Let your meat sauce simmer and allow the flavors to develop.
- The recipe calls for 12 oz of tomato paste. That’s either one large can or two of the small ones.
Gooey Cheesy Pasta Bake
Ingredients
- 1 lb cavatapi
Meat Sauce
- 1 lb sweet italian sausage
- 1 lb ground chuck
- 1 onion diced
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 15 oz can tomato sauce
- 12 oz tomato paste
- 1/2 c water
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/4 c fresh parsley, chopped
Bechamel Sauce
- 4 tbsp salted butter
- 1/4 c flour
- 2 c whole milk
- 1 c heavy whipping cream
- 3/4 c parmesan cheese
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Brown sweet Italian sausage and ground chuck together. Cook until the pink is gone and drain the fat. Add a diced onion to the pan along with the cooked meat. Cook 15 minutes over low medium until the meat caramelizes and the onion is soft.
- Add minced garlic and cook 1 more minute.
- Add crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, water, sugar, dried parsley, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper and fresh parsley. Stir. Cover and simmer for an hour.
- For the bechamel, melt 4 TB butter in a saucepan and add flour. Whisk and cook 2 minutes.
- Add whole milk and heavy whipping cream and continue whisking over medium heat until thick.
- Add parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and whisk until blended and thick.
- Cook a pound of cavatappi pasta in salted water until just under al dente, about . Drain.
- Mix pasta into the meat sauce. Stir. Add to a 9x13 pan. Cover with the bechamel sauce. Top with parmesan cheese and bake at 350 degrees until it's brown and bubbly on top.