Imqarrun or għaġin il-forn is a traditional Maltese baked pasta dish. The pasta is coated with a rich meat based sauce and cooked until the top gets super extra crunchy.
Prep time: PT15M
Cook time: PT105M
Total time: PT120M
Rating
5 stars (3 reviews)
Keywords
Baked, Pasta, Traditional
Ingredients
500 g penne or rigatoni pasta
500 g pork minced meat (or mixed)
360 ml tomato sauce (passata)
1 small white onion (diced)
3 garlic cloves (minced)
1 tbsp tomato paste (Maltese kunserva )
1/2 tsp curry
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper (extra for the top part)
2 eggs (raw or boiled*)
125 ml milk
50 g parmesan cheese or kefalotiri cheese (grated)
Categories
dinner
Main Course
Cuisine
Maltese
Mediterranean
Steps
In a large pan or pot, heat the olive oil and fry the onion for a few minutes until translucent. Add the garlic and let cook for another minute.
Add the thyme, oregano, rosemary, curry, cumin and paprika and mix well with the onion and garlic. Add the tomato paste and let it cook for about 3 minutes.
Once the base is ready, add the pork minced meat, let cook for a few minutes until you get a nice brown colour. Season with salt and pepper.
Lastly, add the tomato passata and the bay leaves. Bring to a light boil.
Once you bring it to a boil, cover the pot and let it simmer on low heat for about 1 hour, stirring it occasionally so that the meat doesn't get stuck to the bottom.
Preheat the oven to 180°C or 350°F.
During the last half an hour, bring to a boil a pot filled with water. Once it starts to boil, season with plenty of salt. Add the pasta and cook for a minute or two less than as instructed on the package. The pasta needs to be al dente.
Once the sauce is done, don't forget to remove the bay leaves and discard.
Butter a baking dish. I used a glass dish with a volume of 3L. Set aside.
Put the pasta together with the sauce and mix.
In a separate small bowl mix together the raw eggs*, milk and half of the grated cheese and add it to the already mixed pasta. Mix well by making sure that every piece of pasta is covered.
Place the mixed pasta in the dish and gently press it down to pack it in. Cover the top layer with the remaining grated cheese and sprinkle extra black pepper on top.
Bake the pasta dish on the middle rack of your oven for about 45 minutes. During the last 10 minutes I like to place the dish on a higher rack so it gets crispier. However, this last step is optional.
Once ready, let it rest for a few minutes before slicing through so that the pasta bake doesn't break completely.
Nutitrion
Serving Size: 1 serving
Calories: 959 kcal
Carbohydrates: 106 g
Protein: 48 g
Fat: 37 g
Saturated Fat: 14 g
Trans Fat: 2 g
Cholesterol: 183 mg
Sodium: 1393 mg
Sugar: 10 g
Unsaturated Fat: 18 g
Reviews
Theresa Pavia on 2025-10-12 (5 stars): Excellent recipe.
