Vegetable Pasta Bake with Liz Fielding

 

VEGETABLE PASTA BAKE

My heroine's daughter, Lucy, 17, chooses the moment the book begins to become a vegetarian. (There is a boy involved!) Left to prep the evening meal for the family, she decides on the pasta bake. This has always been a family favourite and is endlessly adaptable to what you have available, or are to your taste. Here it is –

PASTA BAKE

Pasta shapes. We use penne, but anything chunky. How much depends on how many will be eating.

A large jar of passata (sieved tomatoes) or tomato sauce for pasta.
Vegetables. This pretty much depends on what I have in the fridge. Favourites are –
Chopped red and green peppers.
Thickly sliced mushrooms

Sliced courgettes
Chopped onions – or chopped up spring onions
Chopped carrots, cauliflower and/or broccoli florets, aubergine

Herbs – again this is a taste thing but some chopped parsley is good.

Garlic and red chili peppers (or dried chili flakes) optional to taste.

Cheese to top. I always use a mature cheddar, but you may prefer something milder like mozzarella. 

(In the UK most of the cheese is vegetarian but check if this is important to you. I haven't tried it with vegan cheese.)

Put the pasta onto boil – al dente.

Add a little oil to a large pan (I use a wok). Fry the garlic and chilli peppers for a few moments then add the onions, carrots, peppers, cauliflower, broccoli to soften a little, adding the courgettes, aubergine (if you're using them) and mushrooms in for the last minute or two.

Add the al dente pasta and the passata to the vegetables and stir thoroughly.

As I live alone, at this point I divided the pasta into six individual serving dishes. I put five to one side to cool before putting in the freezer.

 

I grated a generous covering of cheese to the remaining dish and baked in the oven for about 20 minutes at 190°C/Fan 180°C/Gas 4 until the cheese is bubbling and beginning to brown. 

 

Liz Fieding 

Liz Fielding met her husband when they were both working in Zambia and were keen members of the Lusaka Theatre Club. He was playing John de Stogumber in St Joan, and she was the pageboy to the Earl of Warwick. He swore it was the purple tights that got him.

 

Years spent in Africa and the Middle East provided the background to many of Liz's romances. Her first, An Image of You, was set in Kenya, in a place where they had spent many happy weekends on safari. It was plucked from the slush pile because the feisty feminist heroine made her editor laugh. Emotion touched with humour has been the hallmark of her work ever since.

 

After writing 70 books for Harlequin Mills and Boon, Liz has now turned to crime, signing with Joffe Books for three "Maybridge Mysteries", the first of which, Murder Among the Roses, is published on 18th April.

 

 Liz Fielding on the web:

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Liz Fielding has a new book out:

MEET ABBY FINCH. SHE’S THE BUSY MUM OF THREE, AN EXPERT GARDENER AND THE STAR OF YOUR NEW FAVOURITE COZY MURDER MYSTERY.

In the peaceful Cotswolds village of Maybridge, you wouldn’t expect to find a dead body in the rose garden. And certainly not two.

Abby is horrified to discover the bones of a baby buried under a rose bush. It’s in the garden of her soon-to-be ex-husband Howard’s family home.

She immediately calls the police. But she can’t get hold of Howard. He’s off on a jolly with the woman he’s got pregnant.

And then, just two days later, Abby finds Howard himself.
Lying dead in the very same rose garden.
Throat slashed with her own garden spade.

Now Abby is the prime suspect . . .

Fans of Faith Martin, Jane Adams, Frances Evesham, M.C. Beaton, Clare Chase or Jeanne M. Dams will love this addictive cozy mystery!

MEET THE DETECTIVE
Brilliant gardener and the busy mum of three, Abby Finch’s dreams of winning gold at Chelsea Flower Show were put on hold by an unplanned pregnancy and marriage. But she wouldn’t have it any other way. These days she’s kept on her toes looking by her beloved family, running her own business and dealing with her imminent divorce. In an effort to keep things cordial, she’s allowed her ex to bully her into restoring the garden of his family home. Thankfully she’s surrounded herself with a great group of friends to lean on.

THE SETTING
Pretty Maybridge is a charming village set in the sheep-dotted Cotswolds hills, with a long history stretching back to Tudor times. It’s the type of place where everyone knows each other, but there's a wonderful bookshop on the corner of the bridge, a popular riverside café and a bustling market at Christmastime. And with Bristol nearby and a big supermarket round the corner.

Buy on:

Amazon Kindle            Amazon UK           Amazon Aust

Watch the trailer...