The Perfect Pasta Bake: Recipes for Every Day

Flour, eggs, and a pinch of salt: that's all you need for fresh pasta dough. With a worldwide production of eight tons of pasta per year, Italians are way ahead when it comes to per capita consumption. But in Germany we’re big fans of the energy supplier and spoiled for choice with an average of 100 different types of pasta on offer.

We’re hoping you try them all, so here’s a jump-start of 9 pasta bake recipes with no less than 7 different types of pasta for every day of the week. Hidden under a layer of cheese lie fusilli, penne, and more. What are you waiting for?

Vegetarian pasta bakes

Parmesan cheese doubles up with ricotta in the pumpkin sauce for an extra creamy twist to the casserole. Mixed with pasta it’s then poured straight into the baking dish. In the next step (my favorite one) it’s covered with parmesan and put into the oven. You can find the video here:

Four types of cheese is kind of a lot. But: You don't have to be a mathematician to know that this combination will be a success: You can no doubt already imagine the strings of cheese as you serve the piping hot casserole...

This pasta bake with vegetables is pepped up with a homemade pesto made of dried tomatoes, cashew nuts, and lemon juice which makes its way right into the hollow rigatoni. This way you create the perfect balance between pasta, vegetables, sauce and—of course—cheese in every bite you taste!

A trio of pasta, cheese and meat

20 minutes prep time, 20 minutes baking time, and it’s ready to serve: Our quick baked ziti. The herbs and spices in the Italian sausage add an extra flavour to the dish. In this video we show you how to prepare our delicious recipe step by step:

For this dish you only need a handful of ingredients: Cheddar cheese, ham, onion, milk and, of course, pasta. You can always rely on a pasta-cheese duet: the cheese sauce sticks to the fusilli and makes this casserole a creamy delight.

This dish has bite, and that's not only because of the cauliflower, the pasta and the chicken, but also the crispy crackers which forms the crust of the casserole. Try it out yourself:

Do you also have a penchant for reinterpreted classics? In this recipe, the all-time favorite, pasta Bolognese, is made into a gratin with a layer of cheese and baked in the oven. After a busy day (and of course every other day), treat yourself with this baked classic!

There would definitely be something missing if American mac and cheese wasn't featured in our best pasta bake recipe collection. The classic is made from macaroni, ham, and a lot of cheese. Making a kind of cheese sauce first, mixing it with the pasta and baking it with cheese ends up in a relish no cheese lover can resist:

Pasta turns into a dessert

Okay, that's different: Here comes a sweet pasta recipe! Grandma's noodles with sugar and cinnamon may have been forgotten, but it's definitely worth a try. For this recipe the pasta is mixed with cream cheese, sour cream, and raisins. All put together, it results in the masterpiece of a sweet pasta bake:

Are you a pasta bake fan or do you prefer your pasta straight from the pot? Which kind of pasta bake finds its way to your table regularly? Let us know in the comments!