Pasta Bake with Simple Side Salad

by Lucy

This balanced dinner is perfect for those nights where you want some comfort food but still want something nutritious! It’s also perfect if you and your flatmates want a shared meal as it makes A LOT of portions. Feel free to substitute ingredients according to what suits you or what needs using up (you could add chicken if preferred to red meat, or aubergines, courgettes or mushrooms if vegetarian)

6 servings (as in picture): 620 calories per serving
Prep time 20 mins
Cooking time 35 mins
Cost: ≈£1.12 (adjusted for portion sizes and using Tesco prices as the count)

Ingredients

• Pasta (penne/fusilli/rigatoni work well)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic gloves, finely chopped
• 6 sausages, cut into thumb-size pieces
• 4 rashers streaky bacon, chopped
• A handful of petit pois
• A handful of frozen sweetcorn
• 1 jar Bolognese sauce
• 75g cheddar cheese, grated
• ½ romaine lettuce
• ¼ medium size cucumber, sliced
• Tomatoes, diced
• Balsamic vinegar/Caesar dressing

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.

Boil some water in a kettle. Put the pasta in a saucepan with the boiled water, add a pinch of salt and cook until al dente (normally 10-15 minutes). Once the pasta is cooked, turn off the heat and add the peas and sweetcorn to the saucepan so that they can defrost in the water.

Whilst the pasta is cooking, heat a drizzle of oil in a frying pan and add the sausages. Brown off slightly for 5 minutes and then add the bacon and garlic. Cook until brown and slightly crispy, then turn off the heat.

Drain the pasta, peas and sweetcorn using a colander or sieve. Then put the ingredients back into the saucepan and add the pasta sauce and sausage/bacon mix. Stir until evenly distributed.

Put the pasta mix into a large baking dish. Sprinkle cheese over the top and place in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the cheese has turned a golden brown.

Whilst the pasta bake is in the oven, make the salad. Place the lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes into a bowl. Feel free to add a dressing of your choice. A couple of my favourites are balsamic vinegar or Caesar dressing.

Once the pasta bake is cooked, serve alongside the side salad and some garlic bread if you so wish. Enjoy!