Mushroom, Artichoke and Olive Pasta Bake...

I found this recipe in my box of 'cut-out-and-keep' recipes, from various magazines...it's from Essentials Magazine, not sure which issue...there isn't a date on the torn out page!!(and I can't find it on their website anywhere to link to...) So I shall just have to share it with you...so here is Mushroom, Artichoke and Olive Pasta Bake...

...The magazine says it is tasty, and posh enough to serve up to friends..so that was exactly what I did!! But first I had to make it...in fact, Cath and I made it together...a bit of teamwork in the kitchen...

How many will it feed? 4

How long will it take? 1 hour 20 mins (prep and cooking times combined)

What did we need? 

* 1 onion - chopped finely

*2-3 Tbsp olive oil - I actually used some of the oil from the artichokes...(see below)
*1/2 tsp dried oregano
*1/2 tsp dried thyme
*130g white mushrooms - coarsely chopped - we quartered ours...
*4 garlic cloves - crushed
*1/4 tsp crushed chilli flakes
*125ml wine - red or white - your choice, we used white...
*2x400g chopped tinned tomatoes
*410g tin artichoke hearts - drained and sliced...I found some lovely chargrilled ones in the meze section of the supermarket, in olive oil, so drained, and used this oil for the onions...
*50g stoned black olives- sliced
*a pinch of sugar
*400g dried pasta - rigatoni or penne is best for a chunky sauce like this
*1 quantity of quick bechamel (see later on)
*150g cubed provolone or gruyere cheese
*2 Tbsp parmesan
To Make the Quick Becamel...
Take 50g butter and melt in a pan, add 35g plain flour and cook, stirring...to this add 600ml warm milk and whisk continuously - to avoid a lumpy sauce, stir as you pour the milk in...Keep whisking over low-med heat until the sauce has thickened slightly...this will be a pouring sauce...season, add 2 Tbsp parmesan and stir again...put to one side while you get on with the sauce...

The sauce is easy to make...and we made ours earlier in the afternoon...take some oil and pop it in a pan, add the onion and fry gently until it has softened - about 5 mins should do it...Add in the mushrooms, thyme and oregano, cook for a few more minutes...2-3 will be fine...add the garlic and chilli flakes to this, cook for another minute and then...

...pour in the wine, cook for another minute or so to cook off the alcohol...

...then in goes the tomatoes, artichokes, olives and sugar...season, stir and bring to the boil...turn down, and simmer for 15 minutes or so...it will reduce down and thicken slightly...

...hopefully it will look something like this...and would be great as a pasta sauce in this form...a dual purpose sauce if you like...While the sauce cooks, put your pasta on to boil...you want it pretty al dente for this recipe, as it will absorb the sauces when layered up in the dish... 

So we have the sauces and pasta, let's get layering...you need to use deepish dishes to get the right amount of layers in...we ended up using 2 Pyrex casserole dishes...

Right, the layers...start with 1/3 of the tomato sauce, then 1/3 pasta, another 1/3 tomato sauce, another 1/3 pasta, then 1/2 the bechamel followed by the cubed provolone or gruyere (we used gruyere), the last 1/3 of the tomato sauce, the last 1/3 of the pasta and finally the other half of the bechamel...top with a sprinkling or parmesan...

Here is one of ours...

...and from the side to show off the layers...

Put the pasta bake into a preheated oven, Gas 6/200c and cook until golden brown and piping hot...which will take about 30-40 mins.

They looked great, and tasted even better...but in our haste to eat this delicious meal, we forgot to take photos of it plated up!!! (mind you pasta bake isn't the most photogenic of dishes!!) We served it with a couple of garlic ciabattas, for mopping up the sauces!!! There was plenty for the four of us...and most plates were almost clean gong in the dishwasher after dinner...so another tasty and successful veggie meal this weekend! We even had a discussion afterwards about which veggies we could sub in for various parts of the dish...think the top one would be aubergine instead of the artichoke, or half and half...it would have a very med feel to it all then...