Cauliflower cheese & spinach pasta bakes

Name: Cauliflower cheese & spinach pasta bakes
Prep time: 1 h 5 min
Cook time: 1 h 5 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Global
Ingredients: 850 milliliters milk; 50 grams plain flour; 50 grams butter, plus 1 tbsp; 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard; 100 grams extra mature cheddar, grated; 25 grams blue cheese; 1 teaspoons finely grated nutmeg; 250 grams penne; 1 kg cauliflower (2 medium ones), cut into florets; 750 grams frozen spinach (whole leaf), defrosted and squeezed dry; 25 grams toasted pine nuts; 4 garlic cloves, 3 sliced, 1 left whole; 2 Tbsps extra-virgin olive oil; 700 grams tomato passata

If you want to add more lacto ovo vegetarian recipes to your repertoire, Cauliflower cheese & spinach pasta bakes might be a recipe you should try. One serving contains 578 calories, 24g of protein, and 28g of fat. This recipe serves 6. A mixture of extra mature cheddar, nutmeg, butter, and a handful of other ingredients are all it takes to make this recipe so tasty. It works well as a main course. From preparation to the plate, this recipe takes about 1 hour and 5 minutes. If you like this recipe, you might also like recipes such as Cheese & tomato pasta bakes, Four-Cheese Pasta with Cauliflower, and Cauliflower and Spinach Bake (“Mac” and Cheese).

Instructions

For the tomato sauce, cook the sliced garlic in the oil for 1 min, then add the passata. Season, half-cover the pan and simmer for 20 mins until rich.

Ingredients you will need

Tomato Sauce

Passata

Garlic

Cooking Oil

Equipment you will use

Frying Pan

Meanwhile, make the cheese sauce.

Ingredients you will need

Cheese Sauce

Put the milk, flour and 50g butter into a pan.

Ingredients you will need

Butter

All Purpose Flour

Milk

Equipment you will use

Frying Pan

Heat, whisking non-stop, until smooth, then bubble for 3 mins, stirring to make sure any flouriness is lost. Cool for 5 mins, then stir in the mustard, most of the cheddar, half the blue cheese and half the nutmeg.

Ingredients you will need

Blue Cheese

Cheddar Cheese

Mustard

Nutmeg

Equipment you will use

Whisk

Boil the penne and cauliflower for 8 mins in salted water until the pasta is almost cooked and the cauli is tender. Keep 2 tbsp water from the pan, then drain. Melt 1 tbsp butter in a pan, add the whole garlic clove, spinach, remaining nutmeg, salt and lots of black pepper. Stir for 2 mins, then remove the garlic clove.

Ingredients you will need

Whole Garlic Cloves

Black Pepper

Cauliflower

Spinach

Butter

Nutmeg

Pasta

Penne

Water

Salt

Equipment you will use

Frying Pan

Set aside 300ml cheese sauce and mix the rest into the cauli and pasta. Divide half the tomato sauce between 6 dishes and top with some spinach. Fill with cauli mix, top with more spinach, then the rest of the tomato sauce. Top with the cheese sauce, cheeses and pine nuts. Cover with cling film, cool and chill for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 1 month. To cook, defrost if frozen.

Ingredients you will need

Cheese Sauce

Tomato Sauce

Pine Nuts