Go Back
Print
Photograph of Tuna Pasta Bake with Lots of Veggies

Dad's Tuna Pasta Bake with Lots of Veggies

Bursting with flavour, nutrients and colour, this delicious, moreish, tuna, cheesy pasta bake is loaded with eight different vegetables.Topped with a layer of molten and slightly crispy cheese, this is comfort food at its best! Serve as it is or with a salad and perhaps some garlic bread on the side.

Serves 4 - 6

Course Main Course
Keyword Cheese, mixed vegetables, Tuna
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour
Author Susan

Ingredients

Roast vegetables:

  • 1 red pepper, stem and seeds removed and chopped into 1 – 1½cm pieces
  • 1 courgette, trimmed and chopped into 1 – 1½cm pieces
  • 1 aubergine, trimmed and chopped into 1 – 1½cm pieces
  • 100g cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 red onion, peeled and chopped into 1 – 1½cm pieces
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • ⅛ teaspoon fine salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cheese sauce: 

  • 50g unsalted butter
  • 16g/4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
  • 50g plain/all-purpose flour
  • 700ml milk
  • 150g strong cheddar cheese, grated
  • 75g mozzarella cheese, grated
  • 50g parmesan, finely grated
  • ⅛ teaspoon fine salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Pasta and remaining ingredients:

  • 200g dried pasta e.g. macaroni/elbow, penne, rigatoni
  • 1 x 200g tin of tuna, drained
  • 75g frozen or tinned sweetcorn
  • 75g frozen peas
  • 100g fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped

Instructions

  1. Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.

  2. Preheat oven to 220°C/425°F/Gas 7 (fan 200°C)

  3. Roast the vegetables: prepare the roast vegetables, tip into a deep baking tray and mix with the olive oil and salt and pepper. Cook in the oven for 10 minutes, take out of the oven and stir. Put back in the oven and cook for a further 10 minutes or until soft and slightly charred at the edges.

  4. When you take the vegetables out of the oven, turn the temperature down to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6 (fan 180°C).

  5. Sauce: in a medium to large saucepan melt the butter, add the crushed garlic and cook for 1 minute until aromatic. Add the flour and cook for a couple of minutes stirring continuously with a wooden spoon.

  6. Add all the milk to the butter, garlic and flour and mix vigorously with a balloon whisk until the milk is evenly incorporated and there are no lumps. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook gently for 3 – 4 minutes, stirring continuously, either with a wooden spoon or the balloon whisk. 

  7. Mix the three grated cheeses together and stir ¾ of the cheese into the sauce, mix well and cook gently until it has melted. Add some freshly ground black pepper and taste to see if it needs some extra salt. (Set the remaining cheese aside for the topping.)

  8. Roughly chop the spinach and stir into the sauce. Gently cook until the spinach has wilted. This should only take around 1 minute.

  9. Pasta: meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted water, according to packet instructions, but for 2 minutes less than the recommended time. Usually around 8 – 12 minutes. When the pasta is al dente, drain well.

  10. Finish: add the cooked pasta, peas, sweetcorn and drained tuna to the roasted vegetables. Pour over the cheese and spinach sauce and mix everything thoroughly.

  11. Tip the pasta and sauce into a buttered ovenproof dish and cover with foil. The dish I use measures 30cms long, 20cms wide and 7cms deep.

  12. To cook: bake in the oven for 30 – 40 minutes or until hot and bubbling. (If you have prepared the Pasta Bake in advance and you are cooking it straight from the fridge, you will need to add 10 - 15 minutes to the cooking time.)

  13. Take out of the oven, remove the foil and sprinkle over the remaining cheese. Put back in the oven, uncovered for a final 10 – 15 minutes. It is cooked when the cheese has melted and lightly browned and the bake is piping hot throughout.

  14. Take out of the oven and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve as is or with a crisp green salad and balsamic dressing, and/or some garlic bread, if desired.

Recipe Notes

Equipment:

  • kitchen scales and measuring spoons
  • chopping board and knife
  • deep baking tray
  • medium saucepans
  • cheese grater
  • sieve or colander
  • deep buttered ovenproof dish measuring around 30cms long, 20cms wide and 7cms deep.

More details on ingredients and instructions:

Please see the ingredient list and the instructions in the post above, for further information.

Roast vegetables:

  • if there are any vegetables you don't like, simply replace with a different vegetable of your choice, or double up on another vegetable. Mushrooms would make a great addition or replacement to the dish

Cheese:

This recipe uses 275g cheese. You can vary the combination suggested here. E.g. If you prefer you can use just cheddar cheese or a mix of just cheddar and mozzarella or mozzarella and parmesan. Alternatively you could use some gruyere cheese or Red Leicester. Any cheese that melts well, although I wouldn't use more than 75g parmesan.

Cooking times:

The length of time your Pasta Bake will take to cook will depend on:

  • the dish you have used, which in turn will affect the depth of the Pasta Bake
  • your oven, and
  • how cold the Bake is before going into the oven.

Before adding the cheese, check the centre of the bake. Sometimes the edges are bubbling and very hot whilst the centre can still be only a little warm. Add the cheese when the centre is hot but not yet boiling/bubbling.