If you love lasagne but do not always have the time or patience for layering everything carefully and waiting for it to bake, this is my shortcut version.
I make it with penne pasta, minced meat, plenty of vegetables, cheese and the spices we naturally reach for in a Pakistani kitchen. The result is cheesy and comforting like lasagne, but with a distinctly desi flavour.
Best of all, I can usually get the whole thing ready in around an hour.
This is one of those recipes where you can easily adjust the spices according to your family. We like ours with a little heat, but you can make it milder for children or increase the chilli if your family likes proper desi spice.
Desi Mince Penne Pasta
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 40–45 minutes
Total time: About 1 hour
Serves: 6–8
Ingredients
- 500g penne pasta
- 1kg minced meat
- 1 large onion, finely diced
- 3 tomatoes, diced
- 3 bell peppers/capsicums, cut into small squares
- 1 box or punnet of mushrooms, chopped
- 500g shredded cheese
- 2 tablespoons rapeseed oil
- 1 large tablespoon Benecol buttery spread
- Black olives, sliced, optional
Spices
- 1 teaspoon red chilli powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin powder
- 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon crushed chilli flakes
- Around 1 teaspoon salt, or according to taste
I usually use pink salt because that is what I prefer at home, but the important thing for me is simply not using more salt than necessary.
A little trick with the peppers
Whenever I can, I use green and yellow peppers in this pasta.
The tomatoes already provide plenty of red, so using green and yellow peppers makes the finished pasta much more colourful.
Sometimes I also add sliced black olives, but they are completely optional.
How to Make Desi Penne Pasta
1. Start the mince and vegetables
Add the minced meat, chopped onion, tomatoes, peppers and mushrooms to a large pot.
Add the red chilli powder, cumin, fennel seeds, coriander powder, basil, oregano, crushed chillies and salt.
Mix everything well and cook over medium heat.
The mince and vegetables will release quite a lot of water as they cook. Let everything cook together until the vegetables are tender and the mince is completely cooked through.
2. Boil the pasta
While the mince mixture is cooking, bring a separate large pot of water to the boil.
Add the penne and cook according to the packet instructions until it is al dente.
I personally do not add salt to my pasta water.
There is already salt in the mince mixture and the cheese adds more, so I do not find the extra salt necessary.
Drain the pasta once it is cooked and set it aside.
3. Let the mince mixture dry
Once the vegetables are soft and the mince is cooked, continue cooking until most of the liquid released by the meat and vegetables has evaporated.
At this stage, add around 2 tablespoons of rapeseed oil.
I prefer using a relatively small amount of oil because there is already plenty of richness coming from the mince and cheese.
Cook for another few minutes, stirring everything together.
4. Bring everything together
Now comes the easy part.
Add:
- the cooked penne pasta
- the mince and vegetable mixture
- 1 large tablespoon of Benecol buttery spread
- most of the shredded cheese
to one large pot.
Mix everything thoroughly while it is still hot so that the cheese starts melting through the pasta.
If you are using black olives, add them now.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and allow it to melt into the hot pasta.
And that’s it.
No layering.
No white sauce.
No waiting for a lasagne to bake.
Just one big pot of cheesy, spicy, comforting pasta.
How Spicy Is It?
With 1 teaspoon of red chilli powder and ½ teaspoon of crushed chilli flakes, I would describe this as mildly to moderately spicy by Pakistani standards.
Of course, that may mean something completely different depending on who is eating it!
For younger children, reduce or leave out the crushed chilli flakes.
For a proper desi kick, increase them.
That is one of the reasons I like this recipe: there really is no single correct spice level.
Why I Use Rapeseed Oil
I normally use rapeseed oil rather than cooking this with lots of butter or ghee.
It has a neutral taste, so it does not interfere with the spices, and it is an unsaturated oil.
Because the recipe already contains mince and a generous amount of cheese, I don’t think it needs much additional oil.
My Shortcut to Lasagne-Style Comfort Food
This recipe originally came from wanting the flavours and comfort of a cheesy mince pasta without going through all the steps involved in making lasagne.
Penne makes everything much easier.
You boil it, mix everything together, let the cheese melt and dinner is done.
It may not be Italian.
It may not be traditional Pakistani food either.
But it is very much the kind of desi family pasta that disappears quickly from our table, and sometimes those are the best recipes of all.
A Few Easy Variations
You can easily adapt this recipe depending on what you have at home.
Add black olives for extra flavour.
Use only two peppers if that is what you have.
Reduce the chilli for children.
Add more chilli if your household likes things spicy.
You could also use a mixture of different coloured peppers to make the pasta look brighter.
And if 500g of cheese feels like too much for your family, simply use less. This is definitely one of those recipes that does not require exact perfection.
The important combination is mince + vegetables + desi spices + pasta + melted cheese.
Everything else can be adjusted around it.
