Bebbux il-forn

• By Claire Borg

Claire Borg prepares a version of the dish known as njokki, which uses ricotta – but with ġbejniet instead.

For 6 people, you will need:

500g of pasta shells, 12 fresh ġbejniet (mashed), three grated plain dry ġbejniet, salt and pepper, two tablespoonfuls of fresh parsley (finely chopped), one litre of milk, three eggs.

White sauce: 60g of butter, 750ml of warm milk, three tablespoonfuls of plain flour, a pinch of nutmeg, white pepper, salt.

Red sauce: 415g kunserva, 200ml of water, cooking oil, two pieces of fresh garlic (peeled and chopped), sea salt and pepper, a pinch of sugar.

Mix the mashed parsley, salt, pepper and beaten eggs until combined. Transfer the mixture into a piping-bag and fill the pasta shells. Put them into a deep dish and cover them with milk. Add white sauce, then tomato sauce, and then sprinkle with a little grated ġbejna. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C for around an hour. Remove it from the oven and let it stand for 10 minutes before serving.

White sauce: Melt the butter with the nutmeg, add the flour and stir until you have a ball of dough. Slowly add the warm milk whilst mixing with a hand whisk. Keep mixing steadily until the sauce thickens and comes to the boil.  Add salt and pepper, and turn off the heat.

Red sauce: Gently fry the garlic. Add the kunserva, water, sugar, salt and pepper. Cover and slowly cook for 20 minutes.