PENNE PASTA BAKE WITH PEAS, PANCETTA & RICOTTA

I am rarely cooking new recipes nowadays. It is impossible to cook when my toddler Olympia is awake as she constantly wants to be carried or is hanging onto my legs. Plus it is the last thing I want to do when she is having a nap. As a result, I have just been rehashing old recipes and cooking lots of baby recipes which thankfully my elder daughter Arabella is a huge fan of too, such as salmon and broccoli pasta in a cheese sauce, or jacket potatoes with a filling. 

Anyway I decided it was time to up my game, stop being lazy and cook a family dish that we can all eat and I can then freeze the leftovers - I started with a mac and cheese, then a cottage pie and on Sunday I cooked this recipe from Waitrose website.

Ingredients for 6 people:

500g dried pasta (I used penne)
Around 200g pancetta
1 large onion, finely sliced
1 long red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (I left this out)
500g ripe vine tomatoes, roughly chopped
110g frozen peas
250g tub of ricotta cheese
50g Parmesan, grated
25g fresh basil leaves, torn
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Preheat the oven to 200C / gas mark 6.

Prepare and cut all the ingredients.

Dry fry the pancetta in a frying pan for around 5 minutes until golden and crispy. Then remove with a slotted spoon and place to one side.

Using the same pan, add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until it begins to soften and then stir in the chilli (if using) and tomatoes for around ten minutes until it starts to form a sauce. Then mix in the pancetta.

Meanwhile cook the pasta according to the packet's instructions - mine took ten minutes until al dente. For the last 4 minutes, add the peas and then drain.

Finally mix all the ingredients together and pour into a baking dish.

Spoon the ricotta evenly over the top, then scatter with Parmesan cheese. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until the cheese has melted and the top layer of pasta is golden and crusty. To serve sprinkle with basil and drizzle with olive oil.

This was really good, I loved the combination of flavours and the fact it was cheesy but not overpowering. Olympia, my 15 month old, adored it and I think it's so important that she sees us eating the same thing as her. Not surprising my husband enjoyed it so much, he ate for 2....resulting in not much left to freeze for Olympia for next week!!