Pasta Pasticciati (Italian Meat and Béchamel Sauce)

This is a baked pasta with béchamel sauce, a dish to the oven tasty and easy to make, perfect for lunch on Sunday. It is an excellent "empty fridge" in fact you can enrich it with meats, cheeses and even vegetables such as peas, aubergines. Layers of pasta interspersed with cheese, mozzarella, bechamel, tomato sauce or ragù; the heat of the oven melts the flavours and gives a golden and crunchy crust that makes it even more delicious. The preparation of the pasta is very simple, moreover you can comfortably prepare it in advance and cook it just before serving.

pasta ziti, rigatoni, or your favourite (500 g)
1 onion
2 cans peeled tomatoes (800 g)
mozzarella cheese dry and well drained or provolone (250 g)
caciocavallo or your favourite Italian cheeses (100 g)
4-5 Tbsp. Parmesan Cheese, grated
extra virgin olive oil
basil

Béchamel Sauce:
whole milk (500 g)
butter (40 g)
flour (40 g)
sea salt

Prepare the Tomato Sauce:
In a pan, sauté the thinly sliced ​​onion with about 5-6 Tbsp. of oil. Add the peeled tomatoes chopped with a knife and seasoned with a few basil leaves and salt. Cook over low heat for about 20 minutes.

Prepare the Béchamel Sauce:
In a pan, melt the butter over low heat, add the flour and mix well with a hand whisk. Pour in the hot milk, always continuing to mix. Cut the mozzarella and caciocavallo into cubes.

Cook the pasta in abundant boiling salted water and drain it al dente. In a bowl, season the pasta with part of the tomato sauce, a few Tbsp. of Parmesan cheese and the diced caciocavallo, mix well. Grease a baking dish well and make a first layer of pasta, distribute over the part of the mozzarella cut into cubes, a little parmesan, a few tablespoons of tomato sauce and half of the béchamel.

Cover with the remaining pasta, a few Tbsp. of sauce, the remaining béchamel, the mozzarella and a generous sprinkling of Parmesan.

Bake in a preheated hot oven at 200°C and brown for about 20 minutes, the last 3 minutes turn on the grill to form a delicious crust. Remove from the oven, let it rest for a few minutes and serve.

Makes 6-8 servings.

Cook's Notes:

• Heat leftovers in a frying pan with some butter, like a pancake.
• You can also freeze it for up to 1 month.
• You can enrich the sauce with 150 g of cooked peas or 2 aubergines cut into cubes and stewed, 80 g of cold cuts (bacon, cooked ham or salami).