Meatballs with Penne pasta bake
Soprano's style Meatballs pasta bake with a twist
Meatballs with Penne pasta - using leftovers
I make about 1–1.5 kg / 3 pounds of meatballs in a big pot — easily good for 3–4 meals. I was making a big batch of meatballs with tomato sauce the other day. It was great, but what do you do with the leftovers? That's right, meatballs with Penne pasta bake! I just love this combination, and I actually prefer penne pasta, or any other short pasta, over spaghetti — it's just easier to grab a bite of short pasta and a meatball in one go, without having to swirl the fork.When the meatballs and sauce are ready in advance — and trust me, it tastes better the next day — putting together a baked meatball pasta takes less than 30 minutes. Just mix it all together and throw it in the oven. It's that simple, and that good!
Baking time
The oven temperature is pretty high for the meatballs with Penne pasta bake. We only need to grill the pasta and the meatballs — no actual cooking needed since they're both fully cooked already. Set the oven to 225°C / 450°F and bake for about 20–30 minutes. Make sure you have enough tomato sauce in there — we don't want the pasta to dry out. It's also important not to overcook this pasta bake, since I don't want the pasta going soggy and mushy. Keep in mind that high temperature serves this dish better.Meatballs with Penne pasta - Variations
For this pasta dish I add eggs and bake for about 5 minutes before the dish is ready. When you mix the sauce with the semi- raw eggs, you get an amazing tomato sauce, meatballs, and egg yolk mix that is absolutely a killer — it takes this dish to a whole different level.
Method
- 1
making the meatball pasta
Preheat the oven to 225°c/450°F. In a medium baking pan combine the meatballs and the penne pasta, make sure there is enough sauce so it won’t get dry. Place the baking pan in the oven and cook for 20 minutes.
- 2
Finishing and serving
After 20 minutes take out the baking pan and add 4 eggs. Return the baking pan into the oven for 5 more minutes. Drizzle with olive oil and serve immediately.
Jaron Kimhi
Jaron Kimhi — self-taught home cook from Tel Aviv, writing and cooking every recipe on this site himself. 20+ years of tinkering in the kitchen, leaning toward slow cooking, classic technique, and honest ingredients.
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