Welcome to our pasta party in a cake tin! (Or frying pan, if you prefer… we did). This is SO easy to whip up and makes a change from the usual pasta dinner. Plus, it’s a bit of a blank slate: you can throw some sun-dried tomatoes, chopped olives, chopped salami, capers, anchovies or fresh basil through the mixture before baking. Some cooked-off bacon bits would be great as well, in which case add chopped baby spinach leaves too. If you like things cheesier, add as much parmesan as you want; you could use crumbled gorgonzola instead. or as well. Whatever floats your boat! 

We served our Spaghetti Pie with oven-roasted truss cherry tomatoes but you don’t have to do that at all. Spoonfuls of a good, purchased sugo (or when tomatoes are in season, homemade tomato sauce) would be perfect too. 

Use a good pasta; the Barilla Al Bronzo you get from the supermarket is plenty decent enough. Make sure you undercook it by a few minutes though as it will absorb liquid during baking and you don’t want flabby pasta. Ick. Supermarket-grade ricotta, which tends to be quite wet and creamy, is great for this recipe – you don’t want a firm, crumbly one or the mixture will be too dry. 

SERVES 6

450g spaghetti or linguine

380g ricotta (not too firm)

150g grated parmesan

6 extra large eggs

extra virgin olive oil

balsamic vinegar

1 tsp caster sugar

800g truss cherry tomatoes

rocket salad, to serve

Preheat the oven to 190˚C, fan-forced. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Cook the spaghetti for around 3 minutes less than the packet instructions; it should be more al dente than you’d usually eat it. Drain the pasta well.

While the pasta is cooking, combine the ricotta, parmesan and eggs in a large bowl. Whisk to break up the eggs and combine until smooth, then season with salt and pepper. Quickly mix in the hot, drained pasta. Heat a heavy-based 21cm frying pan with a nonstick surface and an oven-proof handle over medium heat. Add 21/2-3 tbsp of olive oil, swirling the pan to coat the base and side. Pour in the spaghetti mixture, using tongs to spread the pasta evenly in the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes to brown the base and set the mixture around the side, then transfer the pan to the oven. When the cake has cooked for 20 minutes, place the tomatoes in a baking dish in a single layer. Drizzle lightly with extra virgin olive and balsamic vinegar, scatter over the sugar and season with salt and pepper. Bake with the half-cooked pasta cake for 20-25 minutes or until the tomatoes are just starting to burst and the cake is golden and set. Sit the cake in the tin for 10 minutes to allow it to firm a little, then remove from the tin and cut in wedges to serve. Serve with the roast tomatoes and a rocket salad.