SAUSAGE, LEEK AND PASTA BAKE

 

On Sunday nights my children get to choose what we eat for dinner and yesterday we had a unanimous show of hands for this sausage, leek and pasta bake. For some reason neither of them will eat onions, managing to find the smallest piece in any dish and leaving them dotted round the edge of their plates.  Leeks on the other hand do not seem to bother them.  Of course leeks have a much milder flavour than onions and tend to be a bit softer if cooked well.  Leeks are also a good source of Vitamins A, C and K so I am more than happy that they eat them.  I like to have a nice crisp, green salad with this meal to lighten it a bit but haven't yet managed to get the kids to agree to that one. 

 

 For the printable version - click here

 

Prep time: 20 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Total time: 40 minutes

 

Yield: 4 - 6

 

 

Ingredients

• 250 g Penne pasta tubes
• 50 g butter
• 50 g flour
• 600 ml milk
• 1 tsp dry mustard
• salt and pepper
• 400g Cumberland sausages
• 1 leek washed and sliced thinly
• 0.5 tsp smoked paprika
• 60 g cheddar cheese, grated
• 25 g fresh breadcrumbs

 

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 160 deg C.
2. Boil pasta in plenty of salted water according to manufacturers instructions.
3. Drain and toss with a little oil. Set to one side.
4. To make the sauce - Melt the butter and stir in the flour.
5. Remove from the heat and gradually stir in the milk.
6. Return to the heat and stir continuously until thickened. Whisk in the mustard and season to taste.
7. For the meat and leek mixture - Heat the olive oil and lightly fry the sliced leeks until soft.
8. Remove the skins from the sausages and break up each sausage into small chunks.
9. Add to the leeks and fry until cooked with some nice colour.
10. Deglaze the pan with a splash of white wine or water.
11. Add the sausage mixture to the pasta and mix well.
12. Place into a baking dish.
13. Pour the white sauce over the pasta and sausage mixture, mixing well.
14. Mix breadcrumbs,  grated cheese and paprika together and sprinkle over the top of the pasta.
15. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes.

 

Written by : Angela Darroch