Main courses
Summer Pasta Bake
Serves 2
Ingredients
- 200g pasta shells (I use conchiglie but you can also use penne or macaroni)
- olive oil
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 large eggplant, diced
- 12 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 2 teaspoons capers, rinsed
- 12 basil leaves, torn into small pieces
- 1 lemon, zest
- 60g melted Kerrygold Pure Irish Unsalted Butter
- 100g whole almonds, roughly chopped
- 100g panko breadcrumbs
- 85g Kerrygold Dubliner Cheddar, finely grated
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Recipe by Clodagh McKenna
- Pre-heat your oven to 220°C / gas mark 4.
- Place a saucepan of water over a high heat and bring to the boil, season with sea salt. When the water is boiling, reduce to simmer and stir in the pasta shells. After 5 minutes, when the pasta is still al dente, remove from the heat and drain the pasta.
- Place a skillet or frying pan over a medium heat, add a tablespoon of olive oil, follow by adding the garlic and onions and cook for 3 minutes. Then add the eggplant and cook for a further 3 minutes.
- Stir in the tomatoes, capers and pasta and mix until all the ingredients have combined in the pan.
- Mix together the finely grated cheddar, chopped almonds, melted butter and breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the top of the pasta until it’s completely covered.
- Put the pasta into the oven for about 15 minutes or until the top is bubbling and crispy.
