Roasted Brocolli Pasta Bake
For those of you that don’t know I am Hindu and I do celebrate all the auspicious festivals. What I am not, is religious. There are certain rituals that I do perform, provided I understand why and I want my children to embrace our Hindu culture and never forget their roots. In saying that I would prefer to be more spiritual rather. I don’t think I am quite there yet but with some work I’m slowly getting there. I don’t believe you have to be religious or preach the word of God to be a good person. I am definitely a great believer in God, yes we need him in our lives. But before any religion I think we should all try to be better humans first and foremost. Be more kind and loving, that’s the religion I would like to follow. On that note although I have been cooking a lot of veggies the past week. I just didn’t have the time to do the photos and write posts. However, yesterday I quickly captured photos of this Roasted Brocolli Pasta Bake, before my hungry family came rushing to the kitchen. Trust me having them all at home, is seriously not working in my favour. No matter what I cook or bake they think it should be eaten immediately. Even when I try to cook early just so I can get my photos done, they think dinner is being served early…Lol! Mom and her boys!
Roasted Brocolli
I prefer to roast my brocolli before adding it to the pasta. The little charred bits definitely adds a nice flavor to the dish and there’s also no chance of the brocolli becoming mushy. It is also a fuss-free step, you drizzle the brocolli with some oil, mix in some thyme, garlic and chilli flakes, salt and pepper and just pop it into the oven. This will cook whilst you get the other steps done.
Making the cheese sauce
The addition of onion gives the sauce a lovely crunchy element and how can you not have cheese. Loads of cheese is what makes this dish even more heavenly. I used a combination of sharp cheddar and parmesan cheese. The more cheese the better. The sauce has a hint of mustard, fresh thyme and some garlic to the sauce. Please do not give me bland food, everything has to be loaded with flavor or I may as well not eat. This Roasted Brocolli Pasta Bake, it is loaded with flavor, no doubt about that.
What pasta can I use
I prefer penne but you can use Rigatoni ( a ribbed tubular shaped pasta) or Fussili (short ribbons of pasta twisted into a shape resembling a screw) Once your brocolli is roasted you mix it into the cooked pasta. You then add your sauce and top it up with some panko breadcrumbs. The breadcrumbs give this dish a lovely crunchy, cheesy texture. It works so well with the saucy pasta. We absolutely loved it and I hope you do to. If you do try my recipe please drop me a comment and a star rating, it is always appreciated.
More Baked dinners to try: Tuna Potato Spinach Bake Lamb Pasta Bake Creamy Potato Bake If you loved this, please share!
