Alex's Tuna Pasta Bake (dairy free)

Al's has been experimenting in the kitchen. That's a good sign! His dairy intolerance hasn't gone yet, so he's been trying out a dairy free tuna pasta bake recipe he devised. I have to say it looked and smelled delicious!  It disappeared too quickly for me to have more than a test forkful... next time he makes it I'll stand there with my bowl held out before me like Oliver Twist!

Here's his recipe...

Dairy-Free Tuna Pasta Bake

Ingredients

150g dried spiral pasta
125g mixed vegetables (can be frozen)
100g mushrooms, finely chopped
4 sun-dried tomato halves
1 tin of tuna (112g drained weight), flaked
1 tin of anchovies (30g drained weight), finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
One box of Panko breadcrumbs (70g weight)
80g of dairy-free spread
1/4 cup of plain / all-purpose flour
2 cups of soya milk
Olive oil for frying (about two tablespoons)
Pinch of salt

Method

1: Pre-heat oven to 200C / Gas Mark 6 and grease a 4-cup capacity baking dish that is about 6 cm (2 to 3 inches) deep.

2: Find yourself a large bowl to put everything into as it's done, adding the tuna initially.

3: Put the pasta and the pinch of salt into a saucepan, add boiling water and cook until tender. You don't want it fully cooked, just about half-way there. If using fresh vegetables then add them towards the end to heat through, if frozen then go ahead and add them at the start. Drain the whole lot once it is cooked and put it into the big bowl you found in step 2.

4: While the pasta is cooking, heat some of the oil in a frying pan and fry off the mushrooms and dried tomatoes for four or five minutes until the mushrooms are softened. Once done, scoop the mushrooms and tomatoes into the bowl from step 2.

5: Put the garlic and anchovies into the frying pan, adding more oil if needed, and fry them for about a minute to get the flavours going then take the pan off the heat and add the breadcrumbs to the pan, mixing well.

6: Into a saucepan (the empty one you did the pasta in if your really organised!) put the spread and melt it over a medium heat before adding the flour to make a roux. Cook it for a minute or so and then gradually add the soya milk, stirring or whisking as you go. Once it's all mixed together, bring the pan up to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer the sauce for about five minutes or until it thickens up. You will want to keep stirring gently here to avoid it developing a skin.

7: Once the sauce is ready, pour it into that bowl from step 2 which contains the pasta, vegetables and tuna and mix the whole lot together. Once well mixed, spoon or pour the mixture into the greased baking dish from step 1 and top it off with the breadcrumb mix from step 5.

8: Put the filled baking dish into the pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes or until the breadcrumbs go golden. Can be eaten right away or later on! Should serve 2 to 3 depending on appetite, more if you have a side dish with it.