A tasty pasta bake that’s flexible with ingredients and easy on the wallet to feed a hungry family of four or a light meal for six. Cheat’s meatballs are made with delicious Torello Farm’s grass fed beef sausages. If meat is not your thing, then replace the sausages with chopped mushrooms. And if you have a herb garden, or some extra in the fridge, dial up the flavour with fresh thyme leaves, oregano, or chives. Cheddar can easily replace the mozzarella. Onion can replace the leek. The pumpkin can be substituted with steamed broccoli or cauliflower florets, or as summer approaches use a combination of grated zucchini and cherry tomatoes instead.

Serves 4-6

400g fusilli pasta (or rigatoni or conchiglie (shell) pasta)

500g ricotta

500g butternut pumpkin, coarsely grated (about 2 cups)

1/3 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra for garnish

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

400g Torello Farm beef sausages (choose favourite flavour), about 4 sausages

1 leek, white part only, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

3 large silverbeet leaves, torn into 5cm pieces, or a large handful of spinach leaves

200g mozzarella, coarsely grated

11/2 cups fresh sour dough bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan-forced). Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving ½ cup of the cooking water.

Place the ricotta in a large bowl, add the pasta cooking water, pumpkin and herbs then stir to combine and loosen. Add the pasta to ricotta mixture.

Meanwhile, squeeze the meat from the sausage casings, creating about 10 to 12 balls from each sausage. Discard the skins. Heat a tablespoon of olive in a medium size frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the meatballs and cook for 3 minutes, turning occasionally to brown all over. Transfer to the bowl of pasta.

Add the remaining oil to the frying pan, reduce the heat to medium then add the leek and cook for 5 minutes until softened. Add the garlic and cook for a minute. Add the silverbeet leaves, and cook for about 3 minutes, until wilted, stirring occasionally. Transfer to the bowl of pasta mixture. Season well with salt and freshly ground pepper. Add the mozzarella and gently stir to combine all the ingredients.

Spread into a 3litre oven proof baking dish (about 30x20cm). Scatter over the breadcrumbs.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until bubbling and golden brown.

Serve sprinkled with extra parsley.

Recipe by Fiona Hammond, Nov 2023.