Meatball Pasta Bake

Say hello to your new favorite quick and easy comfort food dish folks. This Easy Meatball Pasta Bake is loaded with meatballs, a flavorful and slightly creamy sauce and some melty mozzarella cheese. It's a delicious meal you'll want to enjoy on repeat!

Prep Time20

Cook Time45

Total Time1 5

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: meatballs, Pasta, pasta bake

Servings: servings

Calories: 487kcal

Author: MaryAnn Dwyer

Ingredients

2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 1/4 cups yellow onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
2/3 cup white cooking wine
1 28-oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 18-oz. bag frozen bite-size meatballs
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
8-10 fresh basil leaves, julienned or roughly chopped, divided
16 oz. box medium shell pasta
8 oz. ball fresh mozzarella, sliced and then torn in half

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly spray a 9x13 inch baking dish with nonstick baking spray. Set aside.
Add your olive oil to a medium sauce pan over medium heat. Add your chopped onion and cook for about 4 minutes over medium heat before adding your garlic and continuing to cook for one minute.
Add your white cooking wine and bring to a low boil then lower the heat to a simmer and continue to cook for three minutes until the wine is slightly reduced.
Add crushed tomatoes, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes and bring to a boil, then lower the heat to a simmer, add your meatballs and cook covered for about 10 minutes.
Stir in your heavy cream and continue to cook for 8-10 minutes. While the mixture is cooking you will cook your pasta just a minute or two shy of al dente according to the package directions.
Drain your pasta and return it to your pasta pot, add all but a ladle or two of your sauce, meatballs, as well as your grated Parmesan and basil and mix until well combined. You'll pour the mixture into your prepared dish, tuck in your pieces of fresh mozzarella and then add your reserved sauce here and there on top.
Bake your dish for about 20 minutes on 375 degrees until your cheese is melted and then sauce looks just a bit bubbly. Garnish with extra basil, if desired.

Notes

I used medium-sized shells for this recipes, but you could substitute with penne pasta or another similar size pasta.

The cheese I chose to add was fresh mozzarella. I used an eight ounce ball that I sliced and then tore into smaller pieces before adding to the pre-baked pasta.

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