Cheese & tomato pasta bakes

bake batch bbc good food magazine july bread butter button mushroom button mushrooms cheap courgette courgettes diner dinner frozen garlic clove garlic cloves make ahead mature cheddar milk nutmeg olive olive oil olives oregano passata pasta penne pepper peppers plain flour super supper vegetable stock vegetarian veggie

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Source

Ingredients

3 tbsp olive oil

1 bag small mixed peppers (about 7 peppers), deseeded and cut into large chunks

6 garlic cloves , chopped

500g pack large button mushroom , quartered

1l carton passata

450ml vegetable stock

2 tsp dried oregano

290g jar pitted Kalamata olives , drained

500g large courgettes , halved lengthways and thickly sliced

500g pack dried penne

1 ½l 2¾ pints milk

140g butter

140g plain flour

¼ whole nutmeg , finely grated

300g mature cheddar , grated

85g hunk old bread , torn into small pieces

Method

Heat the oil in a large, wide pan or wok, then stir-fry the peppers for 5 mins. Add the chopped garlic and mushrooms, and cook for 5 mins more.

Pour in the passata and stock, then stir in the oregano, olives and courgettes with plenty of black pepper. Leave to simmer, stirring frequently, for 10-15 mins until the vegetables are just tender and the sauce has reduced a little. Meanwhile, cook the pasta following pack instructions.

To make the cheese sauce, pour the milk into a large pan and add the butter, flour, nutmeg and seasoning. Heat, stirring or whisking all the time until smooth and thickened. Stir in half the cheese and allow it to melt into the sauce.

Drain the pasta and add to the tomato mixture. Pile into 2 or 3 baking dishes, pack down well, then pour over the cheese sauce (it helps to let the sauce cool and thicken a little before using so that it stays as a layer). Scatter with the remaining cheese and the bread.

If eating now, bake at 200C/180C fan/ gas 6 for 40 mins until bubbling and golden. Serve with a salad.