Try our Mexican beef pasta bake recipe then check out our vegetarian pasta bake and more comforting pasta bakes.
You can make the slow-cooked beef base up to 48 hours in advance or freeze in a sealed container for up to one month.
Ingredients
- dried ancho chilli 1, (see notes below)
- vegetable oil 1 tbsp
- 
onions 2, thinly sliced
- garlic 2 cloves, crushed
- chipotle chilli paste 2 tbsp
- ground cinnamon 1 tsp
- smoked paprika 1 tsp
- ground coriander 1 tsp
- ground cumin 1 tsp
- beef shin 1kg, diced
- chopped tomatoes 2 x 400g tins
- beef stock 500ml
- dark chocolate 30g
- fresh fusilli pasta 500g (from the chiller cabinet)
- manchego 50g, grated
SALSA
- avocado 1, diced
- limes 2, 1 zested and juiced, 1 wedged to serve
- coriander a small bunch, leaves picked
- red chilli 1, finely sliced
Method
-
Step 1
Put the ancho chilli into a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to soak for 15 minutes, then drain well, discard the seeds and stalk, and chop.
-
Step 2
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large, shallow casserole dish over a medium heat and fry the onion for 5-6 minutes or until starting to soften. Add the garlic and chipotle paste, and stir fry for a couple of minutes until aromatic.
-
Step 3
Stir in the spices and beef, and fry for a minute until fragrant, then add the tomatoes, stock, chopped ancho chilli and seasoning. Gently simmer with the lid on for 3 hours-3 hours 30 minutes or until the beef is very tender. Stir every hour or so to make sure the stew doesn’t stick. If the sauce reduces too much, add a splash of water to loosen.
-
Step 4
Heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. When the beef is tender, stir in the chocolate, pasta and 300ml of water. Sprinkle over the manchego and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden on top and bubbling.
-
Step 5
Mix the salsa ingredients together and spoon over the baked pasta. Serve with extra lime wedges to squeeze over.
Find dried ancho chillies in larger supermarket speciality ranges or buy online.
Discover more of our comforting pasta bake recipes here...

Nutritional Information
- Kcals 531
- Fat 21.9g
- Saturates 8g
- Carbs 43.4g
- Sugars 9.3g
- Fibre 5.8g
- Protein 37.2g
- Salt 0.6g