Red and White Baked Pasta

Add the butter to a small pot on medium heat. Once it's melted add the flour. Whisk for 10 to 15 minutes until the roux's golden brown and gives off a nice, nutty aroma.

Whisk in 1 cup of milk. If the sauce seizes, keep whisking and it'll smoothen out again. Add the rest of the milk. Keep whisking until the sauce thickens enough that you can dip a spoon in, trace a line down its back, and the line stays put. This'll take about 10 minutes.

Take the pot off the heat and whisk in the salt and nutmeg. Give it a taste and add more salt if needed. The sauce should taste like warm, savoury cream. Cover with plastic wrap. Be sure the plastic touches the surface of the sauce so a skin doesn't form.

Put a medium pan on medium-high heat and add the sausages. Fry the sausages, turning regularly, until they're evenly brown, slightly crisp and mostly cooked, about 10 minutes.

Use kitchen shears to cut the sausages into 1/2 to 1 inch chunks. Add the onions, garlic, pepper flakes and tomato paste to the pan and continue frying until fragrant. Add the passata and reduce the heat to medium-low. Let simmer for 20 minutes until the sauce thickens. Stir in salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste, then take the pan off the heat.

Get a large pot of salted water boiling and cook the pasta a minute or so shy of the package directions.

In a bowl, combine the panko, parsley and parmesan. Add a pinch of salt and toss with 1 or 2 tbsp olive oil just to moisten.

Spread the pasta over the bottom of a medium (but deep) baking dish. Pour the red sauce over the noodles, then the white sauce over the red. Don't worry if the white sauce sinks a bit. Cover the dish with foil and bake in a preheated 325 F oven for 20 minutes.

Pull the dish from the oven and remove the foil. Sprinkle on the breadcrumb mixture and broil for 2 to 3 minutes until the topping's golden brown. Be sure to let the dish rest for 5 to 10 minutes before cutting in, or you'll end up with a gloopy mess.