Broccoli pasta bake

This recipe is from Rukmini Iyer's The Quick Roasting Tin. She instructs the reader to make it in a large roasting tin so that you can maximise the crunchy topping. And I completely agree! I have modified it slightly to our family's taste - less crème fraîche. One time, I had just made some granola and had 3 egg yolks left over. I tossed them in with the crème fraîche and it really added something to the creaminess. You could also scatter feta over the top and skip the parmesan, or replace the parmesan with cheddar. Use both bacon and artichokes if you want to fill it out a bit.

Ingredients

  • 300g conchiglie pasta
  • 1 head of broccoli, chopped into small bits
  • 160g bacon lardons or a jar of artichokes, chopped (for a meat-free option)
  • a few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves plucked off
  • 3 tblsp olive oil
  • 300g crème fraîche
  • 100g chopped spinach
  • juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 30g grated parmesan cheese
  • 40g panko breadcrumbs

Method

  1. Grease a large roasting tin with olive oil. Preheat oven to 200°C.

  2. Place the broccoli, bacon, and thyme in the roasting dish. Pour 1 tblsp olive oil over the top.

  3. At the same time, bake the broccoli mixture in the oven for 10 minutes and cook the pasta in boiling salted water for the same period of time. While that is happening, in a bowl mix together the crème fraîche, lemon juice, and salt.

  1. Drain the pasta and remove the broccoli mixture from the oven. Mix the pasta through the broccoli, then mix the crème fraîche through, followed by the spinach.

  2. Scatter the parmesan over the top, followed by the panko, and then drizzle some olive oil over the top. Bake for 20 minutes.

We never have any leftovers, although my daughter will very carefully pick off the spinach and choose only the bacon and pasta to eat.

References

Iyer, Rukmini (2019). The Quick Roasting Tin: 30 Minute One Dish Dinners. Penguin Random House

Tags

  • Recipe
  • Dinner
  • Pasta
  • Tray-bake
  • Meat-free
  • Easy