
Veggie pasta bake
https://www.coop.co.uk/recipes/veggie-pasta-bake
Pack your favourite veg into this cheesy pasta bake.
Each serving contains
% of adult’s reference intake | Carbohydrates per serving : 54g
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Ingredients
- 350g dry pasta shapes
- 200g button mushrooms
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small white onion
- 240g fresh spinach
- 40g butter
- 40g plain flour
- 600ml semi-skimmed milk
- 120g cheddar cheese (grated)
- 2 slice of bread (preferably stale)
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 tsp dried thyme
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200ºC.
- Wash and cut the mushrooms into quarters and sauté with 1 tablespoon of olive oil (fry with occasional movement/stirring/tossing) in a large hot pan for 5 minutes to lightly brown. Whilst they brown and you occasionally shake and stir the mushrooms, peel and finely slice the onion.
- Add the sliced onion to cook for 2 minutes, then add the spinach to the mushroom and onion pan too. Cook for a further 2 minutes so that the spinach wilts (using a lid to trap in steam sometimes helps), then remove from heat and put to one side.
- Heat a large pan of water to the boil and add salt if you prefer. Tip in the pasta, stir and reheat to a rapid boil to cook the pasta as per packet directions, but for 1 minute less, then drain and reserve.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat and add the flour to form a paste, stirring for a minute to cook. Slowly add the milk, continuously stirring and only adding more milk when what you have in the pan is smooth and bubbling. Bring to a gentle simmer and bubble for 1 minute. You can always use a whisk if yours is lumpy.
- Take the sauce off of the heat and stir in the grated cheese and season to taste.
- Blitz up the bread, peeled clove of garlic and herbs in a food processor to form the crust. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and season to taste.
- Add the cooked and drained pasta to the sauce and veg to coat, then pour into an oven dish.
- Top with the breadcrumbs and bake for 15 minutes until golden and bubbly, then serve.