It’s a bit weird here at the moment. The days are warm but the nights are surprisingly cold; light lunches but also still comfort food dinner season. The purple sprouting broccoli season is upon us and as much as I like it cooked simply, maybe with a butter sauce, I am craving carbohydrates and big warming meals at the moment. My bacon, purple sprouting and cheese pasta bake is ideal.
Ingredients
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You will need (for four):
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300g dried pasta (fusilli, penne are ideal)
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£0.60
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4-6 rashers smoked bacon, cut into strips
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£1.50
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1 small head purple sprouting broccoli cut into stalks
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£1.00
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25g butter
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£0.16
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25g plain flour
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£0.02
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350ml milk
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£0.15
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100g red Leicester cheese
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£1.00
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Salt and pepper
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£0.02
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Total
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£4.45
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Method
Get a pan of water on to boil (preferably one that has a steamer too) and when boiling add the pasta. Cook according to packet instructions and 2-3 minutes before the end of cooking time add the broccoli to the steamer on top of the pasta.
While the pasta cooks dry fry the bacon in a non-stick pan until crispy and put to one side.
In a saucepan melt the butter until lightly foaming and then stir in the flour. Cook for a minute or two then whisk in the milk bit by bit until you have a thick sauce. Add a little salt and plenty of pepper, remove from the heat and stir in most of the cheese.
Preheat an oven to 200C.
Drain the pasta and put it back into the pan you cooked it in. Mix in the bacon, broccoli and sauce then put it all into a large oven proof dish.
Sprinkle over the remaining cheese then put into the oven for 20-25 minutes until the cheese has melted and turned golden brown on top.
I had Red Leicester in the fridge which is why the meal looks so orange! Cutting the bacon nice and small is essential for optimum bacon distribution and plenty of black pepper in the sauce for a bit of punch. This has comfort, cheese, bacon and seasonal purple sprouting broccoli and it comes in at less than £6 for four people. What more do you need in a meal?
Excellent timing! I harvested the first of my PSB today.
tho it is no where cold here, this dish would still make a very comforting meal for me 🙂
nice recipe and love all the budget recipes recently
This look so delicious and comforting, great recipe!
Simple meal yet wonderfully done up. Love the cheese layer on top.
A real comfort recipe. Love this.
Baked pasta dishes are so delicious! A great way to sneak in broccoli….:) ela
I don’t make many pasta bakes but I love them. The bacon and cheese in this make it really comforting and I use red leicester on this type of pasta too
It looks like lovely warming dish indeed!
yummy
This looks so delicious! So comforting and creamy. I’ve never seen purple sprouting broccoli here, but maybe it’s similar to broccolini?
I am always craving carbohydrates and this pasta bake sounds delicious!
This pasta bake looks good! Wish I could dig my fork into it!
This sounds like an amazing comforting meal! I’m always amazed at how resourceful your budget meals are!