Pea & Pumpkin Pasta Bake

Perfect winter family meal & leftovers can be used for lunches or holiday picnics. Other vegetables can be added to your liking. It’s a great budget meal packed with veggies that kids won’t even notice!

Ingredients

Olive oil
1kg butternut pumpkin, peeled & chopped into 2 cm pieces
500 gr frozen peas, defrosted
Dried chilli flakes
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/2 a bunch of fresh sage finely sliced
2 heaped tbs plain flour
800ml skim milk
60g low fat cheddar, grated
30g parmesan, grated
350g small pasta (spiral works best)
2 large eggs

Method

Preheat the oven to 200°c.
Lightly grease a 20cm springform cake tin with oil.
Place pumpkin in a large roasting tray with 1 tablespoon of oil & pinch of chilli. Roast for 25 to 30 minutes, or until soft.
For white sauce, place onion, garlic & sage in a pan on medium heat with 1 tablespoon of oil & cook for 10 minutes.
Stir in flour, cook for 1 minute, then gradually stir in milk & simmer for 10 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly until you have a smooth white sauce. Stir in cheeses, remove from heat & season with salt & pepper. Leave to cool.
Meanwhile, parboil pasta to packet directions, then drain & leave to steam dry.
Beat eggs, then gradually whisk into cooled white sauce. Stir in pasta & peas. Place a few pieces of pumpkin on bottom of tin, cover with half pasta mix, push in remaining pumpkin pieces & cover with remaining pasta mix.
Bake on bottom shelf of oven for 30 minutes, or until golden. Leave stand for 5 minutes, then loosen edge with a knife & turn onto a plate.
Delicious served with seasonal green salad.