04 November 2023 , 15:31
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Trying to come up with midweek meals that don't take a long time to cook, are nutritious and tasty, and will keep the kids happy and any complaints at bay can feel like an insurmountable task for many parents. This twist on the classic pasta bake from chef and TV personality Jamie Oliver is bound to be a crowd pleaser, with families who have tried it branding it "delicious".
The best part about this dish is that it's really flexible. You can easily swap in ingredients that are already sitting in your fridge if you don't have time to get to the shops. Jamie's top tip for this one is to make sure you don't fully cook your pasta in the saucepan, so it finished off perfectly once it goes in the oven.
In a video posted to his YouTube channel, Jamie explains that this dish is the "most delicious, straightforward pasta bake" that also turns "the everyday pre-bought garlic bread into a thing of joy: the most amazing garlic bread crumb." This crunchy and flavour filled topping gives the classic dish a stand-out twist and someone who had tried making it themselves commented on the video: "I made this today for the kids! It was a hit! I added some chilly powder for more heat and some sugar to cut the sourness of the tomato. The bread crumb topping was a great addition to this yummy dish". Another noted about the dish: "simple ingredients, easy to make, delicious."
Ingredients:
500 g dried pasta
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3 x 400g tins of plum tomatoes
50g Parmesan cheese
8 cubes of frozen spinach
2 leeks
2 cloves of garlic
Half a loaf of garlic bread
Olive oil
1 bunch of fresh basil
2 teaspoons of dried oregano
Kitchen equipment:
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- Blender (for the crumb and the sauce)
Casserole pan (for the sauce and bake)
Saucepan (for the pasta)
Jamie starts off by making the garlic bread crumb, by taking half of the loaf of shop bought garlic bread and ripping it up, before popping it into the blender and give it a mix, this "simple little trick takes your beautiful garlic bread into a fine breadcrumb". Then put the breadcrumbs aside, so you can start making your sauce. Jamie uses a sauté pan for this in the video, and begins by drizzling some olive oil into it, before slicing two cloves of garlic up finely and frying it on a medium heat.
Next, take some of your fresh basil and chop it finely before adding it into the pan with the garlic along with your dried oregano. This should all be "gently frying" and smell "really fragrant", Jamie explains. Then chop your leeks and add them to the pan for about 10 minutes, you can also take the opportunity now to season with salt and pepper. Keep stirring the leeks until they have softened, and if they start to go brown, turn the heat down.
While the leeks are cooking, you should add your pasta to boiling, salted water in your saucepan. Let it cook for eight minutes or so, but for the best results don't let it cook all the way. When you are draining the pasta, keep one mugful of the water back for later. Now your leeks are soft, add in your tins of chopped tomatoes. To "use every last bit", Jamie recommends filling the tins up halfway with water and then adding this to the pan you're cooking your sauce in too.
Bring the sauce to the boil, and then simmer it for about fifteen minutes, before putting the sauce into your blender. Add the rest of your fresh basil and whiz until smooth, if you need to do it in batches because of the size of your blender, that's fine. Once its smooth put it in your casserole pan and stir through the cooked pasta. If it needs loosening up then use the pasta water you saved from earlier at this stage.
Then pop your cubes of frozen spinach throughout the casserole pan and grate over your parmesan cheese. Finally, add your garlic breadcrumbs and bake the dish until they are golden - this should be about 20 minutes. Let it sit for a minute or two once you've taken it out of the oven, and then simply tuck in and enjoy. Remember, if you want to try this with different veggies, it will work just as well so you can swap out the leeks and spinach for whatever you have at home.
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