Stranger Foods

Storecupboard pasta bake: crispy red pepper & cannellini beans with blue cheese

Serves 4 | Prep 10 mins | Cook 15 mins

This is a good quick storecupboard pasta bake. I often buy jars of ready roasted red peppers, then don’t know what to do with them – this is a perfect way to use them up. You can use any cheese you have lying about – I like the contrast of blue cheese with this, but feta or goat’s cheese would be just as good.

Source: The Quick Roasting Tin

Ingredients

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300 g vine tomatoes, quartered
200 g macaroni
2 tbsp olive oil
25 g fresh dill, roughly chopped
25 g fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
1x 450 g jar roasted red peppers, drained and roughly chopped
160 g pitted black olives, halved
1x 400 g cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
3 spring onions, finely chopped
2 tsp smoked paprika
½ lemon, juice only
100 g blue cheese, roughly crumbled
1 tsp sea salt
black pepper, freshly ground
50 g panko breadcrumbs

Instructions

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Preheat the grill to max. Tip the tomatoes into a small lasagne dish, transfer to the oven and grill for , until softened.
Meanwhile, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the macaroni for , or according to the packet instructions, until just al dente.
Drain the pasta, then stir in the grilled tomatoes, olive oil, herbs, red peppers, black olives, cannellini beans, spring onions, smoked paprika, lemon juice, half the cheese, the sea salt and a good grind of black pepper. Taste and adjust the lemon juice, salt and olive oil as needed.
Return the mixture to the lasagne dish, and scatter over the remaining cheese and the breadcrumbs. Drizzle with a little olive oil, then return to the grill for , until crisp and golden brown. Serve hot. Leftovers are excellent in a lunchbox.

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