Using cabbage in this pasta bake is a a great way to add flavour, add extra vegetables and use up any leftover cabbage in your fridge. You can sub the cabbage for kale as it’s essentially the same family right?

This is a simple, easy to make and delicious dish. You are basically just sauteing everything together while you’re pasta cooks, making a lightened up version of a bechamel and then stirring it all together and pouring it into a baking dish. You the end up with a lovely crunchy carmalised top and silky pasta bake underneath this.

You ca use the sauce in this as the base for any non tomato based pasta bake. Add whatever sauteed vegetables you prefer and then bake until golden – so easy and such a great way to clean out your fridge. I’ve been really trying to refocus on not wasting food of late and it’s been so great to get back in those habits again. It can be hard, especially as a I live in a share house, to avoid ending up with vegetables languishing in the bottom of the fridge but after doing one big fridge clean up our fridge has been almost waste free. Lucky we have compost so anything that was languishing in the bottom of those vegetables drawers when we did the clean out got to live it’s next life composting.

This has also meant we only have one small bag of rubbish going into our rubbish bin each week. In a house of 3-4 adults that’s a pretty great achievement. And thanks to making meals like this one that help me use up whatever I have in the fridge. This dish also freezes well and makes for a great emergency lunch stash!

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

250g cup or button mushrooms, finely sliced

1 Tbs thyme leaves

1/4 a savoy cabbage, finely shredded

1/2 cup finely sliced spring onion (can replace with another type of onion but cook for 2 minutes first before adding other ingredients.)

250 g short dried pasta (I used a short mafalda pasta)

Sauce

1.5 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1.5 Tbs flour

1 cup vegetable stock

2/3 cup milk of choice

1 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 freshly grated parmesan

salt and black pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celius.

Bring a pot of wate rto the boil and cook pasta according to packet instructions.

Heat a large heavy base sauce pan. Add oil and then add the vegetables and thyme, Cook on medium heat, stirring often until the cabbage has started to colour. Set aside until pasta and sauce are ready.

Heat a small to medium pot and once hot add the oil and then the flour, cook for 1 minute and slowlyu add the stock and then the milk, whisking to incorporate. Bring to a simmer to thicken and then add the dijon mustard and the parmesan. Add to the pig pan of vegetables along with the drained pasta. Stir well to evenly combine, season to taste.

Pour the pasta mix into a baking dish and baked for 15 minute or until golden on top. Serve!

HH. x