Cheeseburger Pasta Bake

When I call this Cheeseburger Pasta Bake I’m not joking, the simplicity, the flavours, the carb hit from the pasta, come together nicely and really do conjure up those old school cheeseburger vibes. This pasta bake is a super simple, super comforting, tasty, and surprisingly healthy, nostalgia hit of a dish. It can be knocked up fairly quickly, with absolutely no nonsense, and stored in the fridge, or freezer, ready to be popped in the oven at a moment's notice.

You will need:
400g dried penne (or other pasta shape)
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 large onions, roughly chopped
500g lean beef mince
125g lean bacon, cut into 1cm chunks
2 cans peeled plum tomatoes
120g extra mature Cheddar, coarsely grated
6-8 pickled gherkins, halved and sliced
Good sized pinch of salt and pepper

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan).
2. Add the pasta to boiling, salted, water, cook for 2 minutes less than the recommended cooking time, drain and set aside.
3. Pour the oil into a fairly large, oven safe, low sided saucepan and allow to heat over a medium/low heat.
4. Add the onions to tha pan, stir to coat in the oil, cover with a lid and cook for about 10 minutes, until thoroughly softened.
5. Remove the lid, turn the heat up to high, add the beef and bacon and fry for about 5 minutes, until browned.
6. Remove from the heat, add in the pasta and stir through.
7. Add in the tomatoes, half the cheese, some of the gherkins and the salt pepper. Gently break the tomatoes with the back of the spoon and stir everything through.
8. Sprinkle over half the remaining cheese and bake in the oven for 20 - 25 minutes.
10. Remove from the oven, divide between 4 bowls, sprinkle over the remaining cheese and gherkins then serve.

Notes:
If you’re not a fan of gherkins then simply don’t add them, they’re there simply because I feel like they give the dish a more authentic burgery taste.

If you want to really ramp up the burgeryness, serve with a simple side salad of iceberg lettuce, cucumber, tomato and thousand island dressing.