-
1
Preheat oven to 400F
-
2
Cut the fresh tomatoes in half and squeeze out the majority of the seeds.
-
3
Cut the red onions in coarse pieces or wedges.
-
4
Remove seeds from the bell pepper and cut it into 4 pieces.
-
5
Pour the canned tomatoes into a baking tray.
-
6
Add the onions to the baking tray and sprinkle tray with sugar.
-
7
Put the fresh tomatoes and bell pepper strips into the tray, skin side up.
-
8
Sprinkle the vegetables with salt, pepper, and dried basil.
-
9
Drizzle with olive oil.
-
10
Place the garlic cloves on top.
-
11
Roast the vegetables for 45-55 minutes until tender.
-
12
Remove vegetables from the oven and reduce oven temperature to 350F (for baking the final dish later).
-
13
Let the vegetables cool slightly.
-
14
Peal off the blackened parts of the bell pepper and the onions, and squeeze the garlic cloves out of their skins.
-
15
Transfer the vegetables to a food processor and process until smooth.
-
16
Season the ground beef with salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
-
17
Brown the ground beef, while cooking the pasta according to the package directions.
-
18
Drain any fat from the beef, then add the vegetable sauce.
-
19
Finely mince the fresh basil and stir into the sauce.
-
20
If the sauce is too thick, add a small amount of the pasta water.
-
21
Drain the pasta.
-
22
Add the pasta to the sauce, mix quickly, and then pour the entire mixture into a 9x11 inch baking pan.
-
23
Mornay Sauce: Melt the butter, then add the flour and cook for a minute, but don't let it brown!
-
24
Pour in one cup of milk and whisk vigorously.
-
25
The sauce will thicken slowly.
-
26
Add more milk until you have a consistency you like (about 1/2 c).
-
27
Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg/mace.
-
28
Add 5-6 tbsp parmesan.
-
29
Simmer the sauce over very low heat for 2-3 minutes.
-
30
Pour the Mornay sauce over the pasta and sprinkle with a little extra parmesan.
-
31
Put pan into 350F oven and bake for 30 minutes, until the pasta is bubbly and the sauce is golden brown.
