Pasta Bake

This is the type of dish that you can make to suit you. It’s a great one to use up leftover veggies in the cupboard. You can choose whether to add meat or not, but I think chicken tastes pretty good with it. The cheese it also optional, as the base makes a good pasta sauce itself.

Ingredients:

• 300g fresh pasta
• 2 tins chopped tomatoes
• 1tsp tomato paste
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tin mushrooms
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• ½ courgette
• 1 chicken breast, pre-cooked, shredded into pieces
• ½ tin sweetcorn
• approx. 25 olives, halved
• salt and pepper
• 1 tsp oregano, or any other herbs you fancy
• 100-150g cheese – cheddar, mozzerella, grated

Method:

1. Fry the onion and garlic in some oil until softened, then add the courgette, thinly sliced. Add the pepper and mushrooms, and cook until all are softened.
2. Add the olives, sweetcorn and chicken.
3. Pour in the chopped tomatoes along with the tomato paste, and stir well. Season to your taste and add the oregano.
4. Leave to simmer for a little while, around 10mins, then stir in the fresh pasta.
5. Pour into an oven proof dish. Sprinkle cheese on top, quite generously.
6. Cook until cheese has browned, which takes around 15mins. If the top starts to burn, cover with foil.
7. Serve alongside garlic bread and salad.

The number of portions from recipes depends on the amount of veg used. Using the above recommendations, it creates approx. 6 portions. The sauce can be frozen, and pasta and cheese added later.

Costs: from Tesco, £12.90 – however, not all the ingredients would be used at much and obviously costs less at Aldi! Nonetheless, not bad per portion