Move over Mac ‘n’ Cheese.

This creamy pasta bake, finished with a crunchy, cheesy, spinach topping is just so good. Even the almost-5-year-old-very-fussy-at-the-moment-eater gobbled it up. 

The leek, pumpkin, pancetta and pasta cook together in a mix of stock and coconut cream. Once cooked, it’s poured into a baking dish before topping with a finely processed mix of breadcrumbs, baby spinach leaves, lemon zest and cheese.

This is my version of a recipe from Delicious Magazine, August 2009. I subbed the macaroni for wholemeal penne, the cream for coconut cream, the onion for leek, and instead of parsley in the topping, I used spinach for colour and extra goodness.

You can easily make this a vegetarian dish, by leaving out the pancetta and using vegetable stock.

If you’ve been making the same pasta dish over and over for years now, I hope you’ll give this one a go! 

Enjoy x

Pumpkin & Pancetta Pasta Bake

2016-07-26 05:48:43

Serves 6

A creamy pasta bake with pumpkin, pancetta, leek and rosemary, finished with a crunchy cheesy spinach topping.

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Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

50 min

Prep Time

10 min

Cook Time

40 min

Total Time

50 min

Ingredients

1. 3 tablespoons olive oil
2. 1 leek, white part only, washed and finely chopped
3. 3 garlic cloves, crushed
4. 100 grams pancetta or bacon, finely chopped
5. 800 grams pumpkin, peeled, cut into small cubes (to give 3 cups)
6. 1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
7. 3 cups chicken stock
8. 300 grams wholemeal penne
9. 300 ml coconut cream
10. 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, finely chopped
11. 1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
12. Topping
13. 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
14. zest of 1 lemon
15. large handful of baby spinach leaves
16. 2/3 cup grated cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in large frying pan.
3. Add pancetta or bacon, leek and garlic and cook, stirring until leek is softened.
4. Add pumpkin, chilli flakes and half the chicken stock.
5. Cook for 6 or so minutes or until the pumpkin softens.
6. Add the penne, coconut cream, rosemary and remaining chicken stock to the pan.
7. Bring to the boil, reduce to a simmer and cook for 12 minutes or so, until the penne is al dente (just cooked) and the pumpkin has fallen apart and the liquid is mostly absorbed.
8. Stir through the cheese.
9. Pour into a medium size baking dish.
10. Combine all the topping ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and blitz until finely processed.
11. Cover the pasta with the topping and bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until golden.

By Delicious Magazine August 2009

cook fast eat slow https://www.cookfasteatslow.com/