This has suddenly become one of my dinner party / weekend cook-ahead / feeding a crowd staples. Super-delicious, not difficult to make and vegetarian (or at least this version is).

Prep time: 1 hour. Cook time: 40 minutes. Feeds 6-8.

For the red sauce

  • Three medium onions
  • Three cans chopped tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp dried mixed herbs
  • 4-6 cloves garlic
  • 1 tsp sugar/honey/maple syrup
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • Salt and pepper

For the white sauce

  • 250g ricotta cheese
  • 50g parmesan
  • 1 medium egg
  • 150g double cream
  • 50g fresh basil

For the pasta

  • 500g rigatoni or other tube-shaped pasta
  • 20g parmesan
  • 250g mozzarella

To make the red sauce, finely dice the onions and gently fry in olive oil until soft. Add the garlic and if your basil has nice-looking stems, you can finely slice those and add them too. Add the tomato paste, canned tomatoes, herbs and sugar/vinegar/salt/pepper to taste (depends how sharp your tomatoes are). Simmer for twenty minutes until thick.

While the red sauce cooks, boil the pasta until it has just begun to soften, about 6-7 minutes. Drain and splash over some olive oil so it doesn’t stick together.

To make the white sauce, beat the egg and combine with the ricotta, cream, chopped basil and finely grated parmesan. It probably won’t need salt because the parmesan is salty, but you can add some pepper if you like.

When everything is ready, combine the pasta, red sauce and white sauce. Spoon half the pasta mixture into the bottom of a baking dish, and dot with half the mozzarella, cut into little cubes. Spoon the rest of the pasta mixture over and then top with the remaining mozzarella, the extra grated parmesan and a light sprinkling of olive oil.

Cook in a medium-high oven for about 40 minutes until crisp on top and bubbling.

Serve with a fresh green salad and some nice bread rolls, with more basil and parmesan to sprinkle over.

The Great Escaper / One Life
The Holdovers / The End We Start From