There is something very comforting about pasta bake. Like nursery food, it reminds us of being a child and carefree days. Warm, gooey, cheesy and so delicious and incredibly versatile - anything can be chucked in and indeed the ingredients below can be swapped to suit your needs. Leeks can be exchanged for any green vegetable, or leaf and the ham could become chicken or chorizo or a combination of whatever is in your fridge! I like to use Conchiglie (or shell) pasta as they fill up with and hold all the cheesy goodness, but use whatever you have
Not one for those watching the waistline but then its winter and its depressing and we need something to pull us through. The buttered toast is an indulgence, that can be messy to crumble but adds a lovely crunch and you can always to sparing with the butter...
Ingredients. Lovely amount for 2. Easy to double up
150g Dried Pasta
2 Leeks, sliced
125g Cooked Ham, cut into pieces
250ml Milk
1tbsp Cornflour
100g Mature Cheddar Cheese, grated. Plus a sprinkle more
1tsp Ground Nutmeg
1 Slice Cold Buttered Toast
Salt & Pepper
Method
1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees, find an oven dish to bake your bake in
2. Cook the pasta for only about 5 minutes, it still needs some bite. Add the sliced leeks and give both a couple more minutes in the hot water. Then, retaining 250ml of the cooking water, drain the pasta and leeks and set aside
3. To a bowl, add the cornflour and a splash of milk and stir to a paste ensuring there are no lumps. In a separate, small saucepan gently heat the rest of the milk and the reserved pasta water. When it's simmering, add a ladleful to the cornflower mix and stir thoroughly. This then gets poured back into the saucepan and stirred constantly over a medium heat until it starts to thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste, you can go heavy on the pepper if you like...
4. Add the grated cheese, nutmeg, ham and the drained pasta and leeks. Combine fully and pour the whole lot into your baking dish
5. Crumble your buttered toast over the top with any left over grated cheese and pop into the oven for 20-25 minutes until bubbling and delicious
6. Relax and get cosy!
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