Veggie Packed Macaroni and Cheese: Meat Free Monday

This recipe is loosely based on a tuna pasta bake my mum used to make us when we were younger, it had loads of veg, a white sauce and a breadcrumb topping and it was delicious!!

Serves 6-8 (a good one for the freezer!)

180g Sprouts (around 8 sprouts)
140g Broccoli (around 10 florets)
140g Carrots (1 Carrot)
100g Shallots (3-4 shallots)
2 Garlic Cloves
300g Macaroni
Large handful breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon Dried Basil
1 teaspoon Dried Thyme
¼ teaspoon dried Chilli Flakes
300ml Soya Milk
1 Teaspoon Margarine
100g Cheddar
1 Teaspoon Plain Flour
Salt and Pepper

To prepare your vegetables: Peel the Sprouts and cut into quarters.Slice the shallots and carrots. Cut the broccoli into small florets and crush the garlic.

Preheat the oven to 200c

Steam the sprouts, broccoli and carrots untill soft (you can boil them but steaming retains all the goodness and flavour). As the vegetables are cooking put your macaroni on to boil in a pan of hot water for around 10-12 minutes or untill cooked, once cooked drain in a sieve and put to one side.

In a frying pan add some olive oil then fry the shallots and garlic for 3-4 minutes, then add the steamed veg and seasoning and let the veg brown a little. Then take the pan off the heat and stir the vegetables into the cooked macaroni and transfer all of the combined pasta and vegetables into a large lasagna dish.

In a small saucepan make the white sauce by heating the milk and butter in a pan, then add the flour and whisk untill the flour is combined and not lumpy. Add the cheese and keep stirring over the heat untill the cheese is melted. Season the white sauce and mix it into the pasta and vegetables, spread the mixture out so it covers the bottom of the lasagna dish and is level on top.

To make the breadcrumbs put a toasted slice of bread into a blender and add the dried basil, dried thyme and chilli flakes. Blitz untill you have herby breadcrumbs and then sprinkle these over the top of the cheesy pasta/ veg combination in the lasagna dish.

Put in the oven (uncovered) at 200c for around 10 minutes then serve with a side salad!

Photo: Prepared vegetables