Cauliflower Cheese Pasta Bake with Spinach

Cauliflower pasta bake with spinach is a great comfort food dish and ready in just over half an hour. A cheese pasta bake makes a great mid-week dinner and can be prepared in advance. I like to add in some spinach for extra nutrition and colour.

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Recipe Tips & Variations

• You can eat the cauliflower leaves and stalks. Just wash them and chop into bite sized chunks and cook along with the cauliflower head. If you don't eat them, you'll end up throwing away about half of your cauliflower.
• Use a mature cheddar cheese to flavour the cheese sauce. A mature cheddar has a stronger flavour, so you will need less of it.
• Be careful not to overcook the cauliflower as it will go a bit watery. The texture should be firm. Remember with a pasta bake the pasta will continue to cook in the oven. Like the cauliflower, you want the pasta to be 'al dente' or still a little firm when bitten, before putting it in the oven.
• I've added spinach to this cheese pasta bake, but you could also add broccoli. Kale works well too and is a good source of iron. If you are adding a whole head of broccoli as well as cauliflower, reduce the pasta quantity slightly or you might not have room in the dish. This cauliflower cheese is filling enough to have as a main meal.
• A traditional cheese sauce is very easy to make. Just add all the ingredients, apart from the cheese into the pan and stir over a medium heat. If you keep stirring it, you will have next to no lumps. I used to worry about having to add all the ingredients slowly, but you don't need to. Once the sauce starts to bubble, it will begin to thicken. At this point, add the cheese and it will melt and flavour the sauce nicely.

How to make pasta bake

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/390°F/gas mark 6 and bring a large pan of lightly salted water to the boil. Place the cauliflower and pasta in the boiling water together, reduce to a simmer and cook for 8-9 minutes until the pasta is almost cooked and the cauliflower tender, then drain.
2. Meanwhile, in a separate pan, sieve in the flour and add the butter, milk, hot vegetable stock and mustard. Bring to a boil stirring all the time then simmer until the sauce thickens. Add half the cheddar cheese and nutmeg and stir until the cheese has melted.
3. Tip the pasta and cauliflower back into a large pan and stir in the spinach and cheese sauce. Tip everything into an oven proof baking dish and sprinkle over the remaining cheddar. You should aim for a light covering of grated cheese. If you have a large dish, you may need to use more cheese to cover your pasta. If you're making this to use later, leave to cool and store it in the fridge. It will keep for up to 2 days but is best cooked within 24 hours.
4. Bake in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes until the cheese is bubbling.

Sustainability

Cauliflower is one of those rare vegetables that is actually harvested all year round. Don't forget, the cauliflower leaves and stems are also edible so no need to waste them! The outer part of the stem might be a bit tough so peel this, but everything else is good to eat. Buy the vegetables loose in order to minimise the plastic packaging. Buying from local sources will further reduce the carbon footprint as well as help to support your local economy. Nutmeg, which is used here in the cheese sauce is available as a Fairtrade product. Fairtrade nutmeg powder is sourced from Sri Lanka. and comes from the Small Organic Farmers Association. 

Storage

You can keep this cauliflower pasta bake in the fridge for up to two days. It doesn't freeze well unfortunately. Cauliflowers are best stored in a paper bag in the fridge. A whole cauliflower should keep well for a week. Keep it upside down to prevent condensation forming on top of the florets.

Cauliflower Cheese Pasta Bake with spinach

REALMEALDEAL

Cauliflower pasta bake with spinach is a great comfort food dish and ready in just over half an hour. A cheese pasta bake makes a great mid-week dinner and can be prepared in advance. I like to add in some spinach for extra nutrition and colour.

5 from 6 votes

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 20 mins

Total Time 35 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings (Adjustable) 4

Calories 459 kcal

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 575 g cauliflower organic, cut into florets
• ▢ 400 g pasta shapes organic, fairtrade
• ▢ 100 g spinach organic

Cheese Sauce

• ▢ 40 g plain flour organic
• ▢ 40 g butter organic
• ▢ 300 ml milk organic
• ▢ 300 ml vegetable stock organic
• ▢ ½ teaspoon English mustard organic
• ▢ 200 g mature cheddar cheese organic, grated
• ▢ ½ teaspoon nutmeg organic, fairtrade

Instructions

 

• Pre-heat the oven to 200°C/390°F/gas mark 6 and bring a large pan of lightly salted water to the boil. Place the cauliflower and pasta in the boiling water together, reduce to a simmer and cook for 8-9 minutes until the pasta is almost cooked and the cauliflower tender, then drain.
• Meanwhile, in a separate pan, sieve in the flour and add the butter, milk, hot vegetable stock and mustard. Bring to a boil stirring all the time then simmer until the sauce thickens. Add half the cheddar cheese and nutmeg and stir until the cheese has melted.
• Tip the pasta and cauliflower back into a large pan and stir in the spinach and cheese sauce. Tip everything into an oven proof baking dish and sprinkle over the remaining cheddar. (Store in the fridge at this point if necessary)
• Bake in the oven for 15 - 20 minutes until the cheese is bubbling.

Notes

Recipe Tips

• You can eat the cauliflower leaves and stalks. Just wash them and chop into bite sized chunks and cook along with the cauliflower head. If you don't eat them, you'll end up throwing away about half of your cauliflower.
• Use a mature cheddar cheese to flavour the cheese sauce. A mature cheddar has a stronger flavour, so you will need less of it.
• Be careful not to overcook the cauliflower as it will go a bit watery. The texture should still be firm. Remember with a pasta bake that the pasta will continue to cook a little in the oven. Like the cauliflower, you want the pasta to be 'al dente' or still a little firm when bitten, before putting it in the oven.
• I've added spinach to this cauliflower cheese pasta bake, but you could also add broccoli. Kale also goes well and is a good source of iron. If you are adding a whole head of broccoli as well as cauliflower, reduce the pasta quantity slightly or you might not have room in the dish.

Storage

You can keep this cauliflower cheese pasta bake in the fridge for up to two days. It doesn't freeze well unfortunately. Cauliflowers are best stored in a paper bag in the fridge. A whole cauliflower should keep well for a week. Keep it upside down to prevent condensation forming on top of the florets.

Nutrition per serving

Calories: 459kcalCarbohydrates: 57gProtein: 24gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 4gCholesterol: 40mgSodium: 665mgPotassium: 1293mgFiber: 8gSugar: 12gVitamin A: 9950IUVitamin C: 130.4mgCalcium: 470mgIron: 4.9mg

The Nutritional Values are computer generated estimates based on industry standards and are provided as a helpful guide only.

Average Carbon Emissions

Author REALMEALDEAL

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