Easy Cheesy Pasta Bake

I was in the mood for comfort food yesterday, and this absolutely hit the spot.  It's a sort of mac 'n' cheese, with a few twists to make it lower syn / food optimising.  I've tried versions before with quark / fromage frais / cottage cheese to make it free, but I like this version better - worth spending a couple of syns for I reckon.  The cheese included comes to 4 x HEA allowances, so I only spent syns on the crème fraiche. 
Serves 4


Ingredients


350g pasta (I used a mix of conchiglie and fusilli)
Frylight
1 gammon steak, cut into cubes
2 leeks, sliced
1 courgette, cut into quarters lengthways then sliced
200g low fat crème fraiche (check syns, as brands vary - mine came to 8 syns = 2 per portion)
1 tsp mustard powder
A pinch of nutmeg
120g reduced fat cheddar, grated
30g parmesan, grated
4 tomatoes, sliced


Method


1.  Cook the pasta for a couple of minutes less than the packet instructions say.  If it's overcooked you'll end up with a hot soggy mush at the end.  Reserve some of the cooking water for loosening the sauce later.


2.  Spray a pan with frylight and pan fry the gammon cubes for 4-5 minutes.  Add in the leeks and courgettes and fry for a couple more minutes.


3.  Stir the mustard powder and nutmeg into the crème fraiche.


4.  Tip the cooked pasta into an ovenproof dish.  Add the gammon mix, the crème fraiche, and three quarters of the cheddar and parmesan.  Mix together well, adding some of the reserved pasta cooking water to loosen up the sauce.  Top with the sliced tomatoes and the rest of the cheeses. 


5.  Bake at 200-220C for 15-20 minutes, until golden and bubbling on top.  Serve with a green salad.

Marrowfat Pea and Ham Soup

I haven't posted anything for a while, but I made this for taster night at group this week, so thought I'd share the recipe. It's very filling, and just the thing to warm you up as the nights start drawing in.

It's based on a recipe I found for Lancashire Pea and Ham Soup, but I've simplified and slimmified it.  The original recipe calls for a ham shank, but I used a cooked ham joint instead.  It also has chopped carrots in it, but my other half isn't keen so I left them out. Add them back in if you like.

Ingredients

500g dried marrowfat peas

500g cooked ham joint, cubed

2 onions, finely chopped

3-4 celery sticks, finely sliced

A few sprigs of thyme

2-3 chicken stock cubes

Water 

A handful of chopped fresh parsley

Method

1. Prepare your dried marrowfat peas. Either: 

- soak them in tepid water overnight (about 8 hours) 

or

- boil them up in a pan of water for 3 minutes, and then cover and simmer for a further 45 to 60 minutes until the peas are tender.

2.  Drain your prepared peas, and put in a large heavy saucepan / stockpot with the ham, onion, celery, thyme, 2 chicken stock cubes and 4 pints of water.  Bring to the boil then turn down the heat, cover and simmer for 2 hours.

3. At this point the original recipe says to liquidise half the soup, but I skipped this step.

4. For best results, make a day in advance and refrigerate overnight.  Reheat for 15-20 minutes the next day, adding water to loosen it if necessary.

5. Before serving, stir the parsley through and check the seasoning. You might want to add another stock cube if you think it needs it, plus the usual salt and pepper of course.