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:

Website             Facebook           Twitter

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 cafĂ© 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...

Comments

  1. Hi Liz,
    Welcome to Love Affair with Food! As the name suggests we discuss food! And thank you for sharing your recipe of Vegetable Pasta Bake. It sounds awesome and I'm going to try it.

    Congratulations on the release of your new book! It sounds a thrilling story! I've got it on my ereader and it will be next on my read list!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for inviting me to share a recipe on your blog. I hope you enjoy it - I've found it very useful having the individual dishes in the freezer while I've been hard at work on the second book in this series. And I do hope that you'll enjoy the book! x

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  2. I love the variety of vegetables.

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    1. It's such a tasty way to get veggies into the reluctant vegetable eater! My daughter adds a dollop of pesto to bakes.

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  3. That veggie bake looks delicious. And I haven't read any Liz Fielding. But I love a good mystery so I'll add her to my list.

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    1. Thank you, Erika. Thanks for adding Abby to your book list!

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  4. Yummy pasta dish and the book sounds good!

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    1. Hi Christine. It is a favourite. My daughter adds a dollop of pesto to the sauce for extra flavour.

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  5. Replies
    1. I have such a weakness for cheese but it is good on it's own, too.

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  6. Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Mary. I've just taken one out of the freezer for my supper this evening. :)

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  7. Yum! And thanks for popping by my blog today!

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    Replies
    1. Such a pleasure, Debra. Thanks for inviting me.

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  8. I LOVE a good pasta bake! Yum, yum, yum!

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    Replies
    1. It's so adaptable. You can switch the veggies around and add flavours that are family favourites.

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  9. Oh YUM....that pasta looks great. Thank you for stopping by the blog and leaving a message, come back anytime.

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  10. Delicious.
    www.rsrue.blogspot.com

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    1. And adaptable to whatever is to hand which is a big help!

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  11. It looks very good! Our granddaughter is a vegetarian. I was honored to have a comment from such a well known and talented author!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Ginny, it's a pleasure to be here. My grandson (8) has just decided that he can't eat animals. There is a lot of pasta in his life at the moment!

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  12. What a delicious page! Thanks for visiting, so that I could discover your love affair here. It's divine.

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    1. Thank you so much. There's a savoury biscuit in the next book - I'll be sure to come back with the recipe in the autumn!

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  13. Hi Liz, This book sounds really intriguing. AND since I'm a vegetarian, I loved the recipe. Wishing you much success. Sandra sandracox.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you so much, Sandra. I'm glad you like the recipe. It's a big family favourite.

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  14. That recipe sounds very good! And the book does too!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Mari. For both the recipe and the book. :)

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  15. That's kind of you, Mari. I do love that recipe and hope everyone loves the book!

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  16. love pasta.... thank you for sharing recipe...

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    1. So do I, Tanza. Love a simple mushroom and tagliatelli pasta, too. So simple and quick.

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  17. Thank you for your sweet comment on my blog!
    The book sounds right up my alley. so to speak!
    hugs
    Donna

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  18. Liz- I am a vegetarian- so I loved reading about this recipe. It sounds so good! I plan to make it soon. Thanks for sharing it and I wish you the best of luck. :)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you. I hope you enjoy it. It's a long time family favourite. And thank you for your good wishes.

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  19. Thanks for this recipe. Sounds really good and I'm definitely trying it!

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  20. Wow, looks so delicious! Thanks for sharing this recipe.

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  21. Thank you for the visit to my blog!
    I Love Cozy murder mysteries! I'll be checking out your latest!
    hugs
    Donna

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  22. A good variety of vegetables here :)

    All the best Jan

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  23. Me ha encantado su RECETA LIZ, es muy de mi agrado...
    La tendré en cuenta, al igual que sus recomendaciones literarias ^:^
    Conxita

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