21 pasta bake recipes for comfort cooking this winter

With pasta and sauce bound with melted cheese, what’s not to love about a pasta bake recipe? In fact, we’d go as far as saying that pasta bake recipes are our favourite comfort food — especially in winter.

If you’re looking for a cheesy, carby baked pasta recipe then you’ve come to the right place. We have creature-comfort lasagna recipes (make sure you try chef Sarah Cicolini’s version with romanesco) and warming cannelloni dishes, plus a healthy dose of mac and cheese pasta bake recipes. For a show-stopping pasta bake recipe, look no further than Buon Ricordo’s gravity-defying timballo Napoletano.

Here are our best pasta bake recipes to cook in 2024.

Fusilli with greens, fennel and feta

Think of it as spanakopita, in baked pasta form.

Macaroni and cheese

Melted cheese, pasta baked under a golden crust. What’s not to love?

Mushroom and Fontina rigatoni

Make the most of winter produce with a rich pasta bake that pairs a medley of fresh and dried mushrooms with a punchy washed-rind cheese.

Cauliflower mac and cheese

For this recipe, we’ve added cauliflower to the classic comfort food. (And three different cheeses and crunchy rye breadcrumbs, too.

Lasagne with romanesco (Lasagne con broccolo romanesco)

Sarah Cicolini’s lasagne with romanesco

It’s the layered Italian classic you know and love, but Santo Palato’s Sarah Cicolini has swapped out the meat for Roman cauliflower.

Dan Puskas’s mushroom lasagne

This all-veg lasagne, courtesy of Sixypenny’s chef-owner Dan Puska, is packed with umami-rich mushrooms.

Lobster pasta with lemon crumbs

The pasta bake takes a luxe turn.

Ham and provolone mac and cheese with fried egg

If there were such a thing as breakfast pasta, this would be it.

Semolina and Pyengana cheddar gnocchi, crushed tomato and olive oil

Embla’s cheddar gnocchi, crushed tomato and olive oil

This Roman-style gnocchi is rich with the sharp flavour of cheddar, making it an ideal side dish for robust stews, braises and roasted meats.

Maccheroni al formaggio

Australian Gourmet Traveller pasta recipe for maccheroni al formaggio (macaroni and cheese).

Paul Carmichael’s macaroni pie

The Momofuku Seiobo chef turns this simple dish into a Christmas essential.

Buon Ricordo’s timballo Napoletano

This is an celebratory pasta bake with quail eggs, veal meatballs and rigatoni coated in a fresh Napoletana sauce.

Ultimate mac and cheese

This is comfort food at its best.

Guy Grossi’s toasted-flour pasta with silverbeet

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for toasted-flour pasta with silverbeet.

A white baking tray with lasagne, with a rectangle slice cut out.

A classic lasagne

The ultimate in comfort food.

Cauliflower and hazelnut strozzapreti with Gorgonzola

This more substantial take on the classic cauliflower and cheese adds strozzapreti to the mix for a very moreish pasta bake.

Sarah Cicolini’s beef and ricotta cannelloni

This cannelloni recipe is the type of pasta dish that will impress your dinner guests to no end. Save it for occasions when you need to pull out all stops.

Pasticcio

Australian Gourmet Traveller pasta recipe for pasticcio.

Kathy Tsaples’ yiouvetsi

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for yiouvetsi by Kathy Tsaples.

Mushroom cannelloni

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for mushroom cannelloni.

Paccheri with sausage ragù and mozzarella

This chunky sauce of pork and fennel sausage, red wine and tomato finds its way into every crevice and gap of this baked pasta dish.

The Gourmet Traveller Team

Gourmet Traveller is Australia’s trusted authority on food, travel and luxury lifestyle, bringing the latest news and trends to life through quality journalism, enticing recipes and evocative photography. For more than 55 years, it has been inspiring and informing Australians with the best in cooking, dining, travelling and shopping. Our critics bring the expertise of years of critical eating, drinking and writing to the table. Plus, as the country’s leading title in the luxury sector, Gourmet Traveller works closely with Australia’s leaders in the travel and hospitality industries to give our readers exclusive access. The Gourmet Traveller legacy is one of trust, prestige and relevance.

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