Pasta Vegetable Bake

A pasta vegetable bake is a great meal for a meatless day! I use individual dishes or if you are feeding a family or group use a larger dish! For the sauce experiment with Ricotta instead of Philadelphia and vary the herbs to your liking, I like the Italian flavours of basil, oregano, but paprika and whole grain mustard are nice additions! Nutritional Yeast naturally has a cheesy nutty flavour, so it is a good addition here and it means you use less cheese.

INGREDIENTS Serves 6:

  • 300g of any small/ medium pasta shell you have
  • 6 mushrooms
  • 1 courgette
  • 1 red / yellow pepper
  • 2 shallots or ½ yellow onion
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • Olive oil
  • 50g grated cheddar for the top of dish or 1-2 tbsp of grated cheese if using individual dishes.
  • BECHAMEL WHITE SAUCE:
  • 1 egg
  • 100g Philadelphia Light
  • 100g Fat Free Natural Greek Style Yogurt
  • 2-3tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 2 teaspoons whole grain mustard (optional)
  • Dash paprika (optional)
  • Basil / Italian herbs (optional)
  • Sea salt & Black pepper

METHOD:

  • Using olive oil, sauté the onion, garlic for 5-10 minutes on a low heat.
  • Add in the diced mushroom, courgette, peppers, salt, black pepper, seasonings take off the heat after another 10 mins.
  • In a saucepan boil some salted water, add your pasta and cook for 10-15 mins or until al dente, slightly soft.
  • Sauce: in a jug beat the egg, add in the yogurt, cheese of choice and herbs and beat until smooth
  • Mix in your vegetable mix and pasta in a large bowl.
  • Pour into individual dishes or one large dish.
  • Sprinkle with grated cheese.
  • At this stage you can bake at 150 ovens for 25-30 mins, cover with foil for the first 15 mins and then remove so you do not burn.
  • Alternatively, if you are having the next day you can leave in the dishes and finish off the baking the following day, leaving the flavours to infuse for a little longer!
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