Cheeseboard pasta bake
- Preparation and cooking time
- Prep: -
- Cook:
- Easy
- Serves 4
Ingredients
- 500g packet rigatoni
- 850ml milk
- 50g butter
- 50g plain flour
- half a nutmeg (or ¼ tsp ready ground)
- 85g mature cheddar, or other hard cheese
- 85g dolcelatte or other blue cheese
- 85g garlic and herb cheese such as Boursin or roulé
- 200g cooked ham, chopped
- 85g mixed nut, such as cashews, blanched almonds, and hazelnuts, roughly chopped
- a handful of parsley, roughly chopped
Method
- STEP 1
To cook the pasta, bring a large pan of water to the boil, add a generous measure of salt and tip in the pasta. Stir once and return to the boil, then boil rapidly for 12 minutes. Preheat the oven to 190C/gas 5/fan 170C.
- STEP 2
To make the sauce, pour the milk into a pan and add the butter, flour and plenty of seasoning. Grate in the half nutmeg (or sprinkle in the ready ground). Bring to the boil over a medium heat, whisking all the time until it makes a smooth, creamy sauce.
- STEP 3
Drain the pasta and tip it into the sauce. Taste and add extra seasoning if necessary. Stir in the ham and grate in the cheddar, then tip into a shallow ovenproof dish. Dice the remaining cheeses and swirl into the pasta to make cheesy pockets.
- STEP 4
Mix the nuts and parsley together, then scatter over the pasta. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until the nuts are golden and crunchy and everything is piping hot.
