Pasta Recipes

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta until al dente – this will take a couple of minutes less than pack instructions. Halfway through the pasta cooking time, add the broccoli to the pan. Drain, then toss the pasta and broccoli in the oil to coat.

While the pasta and broccoli are cooking, bring the milk to a simmer with the bay leaf in a separate pan, then remove from the heat and set aside. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat, add the flour and whisk together. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for a couple of minutes, stirring often until combined and beginning to stick to the pan.

Whisk in the milk gradually, making sure there are no lumps, then reduce the heat to low and cook gently for 8-10 mins until the sauce is thickened and smooth. Remove from the heat and stir in three-quarters of the cheese, the mustard (you can add more, if you like), nutmeg, plenty of black pepper and some salt. Remove the bay leaf. Heat the oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.

Put the pasta and broccoli in a large baking dish (approx: 30cm x 22cm) and pour over the sauce. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese and the breadcrumbs. Bake for 30-35 mins until golden brown and bubbling. Remove from the oven and leave to rest for 5 mins before serving.

Here are some pictures of the bake. I used smoked bacon fried with a large diced onion to go with the broccoli, pasta (macaroni) and some left over Cavallo Nero. The sauce was made using a wholemeal flour and grated cheddar and leftover stilton. For the topping I used panko crumbs and some of the cheese. It was full of lovely flavours from the smoked bacon, the cheeses, and the broccoli. Well worth doing and it serve 4 substantial serving or 6 nice servings!