Recipe: Veggie Chilli Pasta Bake

One word - yum! I made this on a whim today and it was utterly delicious and really rather good for you.  

Ingredients:

(Wheat Free) Pasta

Onion

2 Garlic Cloves

1/2 Red Bell Pepper

Leek

Any other bits of veg you've got lying around

Pasta Sauce/Chopped Toms

Soya Mince

Herbs/Spices/Seasonings

A teeny tiny bit of cheese

First off, chop some veggies - I went with a onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/2 a red pepper, a leek and about 5 tenderstem broccoli shoots (including the stems):

Next pop a pan of wheat free pasta on to boil. The heat up a splash of oil in a medium pan and saute your onion, garlic and leek over a medium heat until soft:

Once they're soft, add your red pepper and some herbs and spices. I added a little salt and pepper, basil, oregano, herbs d'provence, a teeny tiny pink of za'tar, quite a bit of paprika, a little cayenne and some cumin. If you want it more bolognesey, leave out the spices and as always, feel free to sub with whatever your favourite flavours are!

Wondering about the brocolli? Never fear! You need to add it in with your pasta water now!

Now add your soya mince to the pan with the sauted veggies and your pasta sauce/chopped tomatoes. I'd normally use chopped tomatoes in a chilli but as I had no fresh mushrooms in, I decided to use a Gordon Ramsey Wild Mushroom and Mascapone pasta sauce we had in. It's completely up to you though. If you want to make it a little creamier, you could always add a little (soya) milk to your chopped tomatoes :)

At this point, I checked the seasoning and then added my 4 secret chilli ingredients.... want to know what they are? Ok then. 1) Vegetarian Worchester Sauce 2)A sprinkle of Vegetable boullion/stock powder 3)A squeeze of tomato paste (or if I'm feeling naughty/lazy a little tomato ketchup) 4)A sprinkle of vegetable gravy granules.

Looking good! Now you just need to drain your pasta, mix it with your sauce, transfer it to a baking dish, top with a tiny bit of cheese (you don't need much at all!) and pop it in the oven on 180C for about 20 minutes until it looks golden and creamy and lovely! Deeeeelicious!