Buddy’s pasta bake

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Cut off and discard the tough ends of the broccoli stalks, trim the green florets into 3cm pieces and put aside, then roughly chop all the remaining stalks and place in a food processor. Peel and add the garlic, then blitz until fine.
3. Place a large shallow casserole pan on a medium heat. Once hot, go in with 3 tsp (14 ml) of olive oil and the chilli flakes, to taste. As soon as they start to sizzle, tip in the blitzed broccoli stalks. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, then pour in 1 litre of milk. Pour the remaining 500 ml of milk into the processor with the spinach and crumble in the cheese (I wanted this to be healthy, but now’s the time to add extra cheese if you want it more indulgent). Blitz until smooth, pour into the pan, then bring to the boil and season to perfection. Stir the broccoli florets and pasta shells into the sauce and boil for 5 minutes, stirring regularly.
4. Tear the garlic bread into the processor (there’s no need to clean it) and blitz into crumbs. Sprinkle over the pasta bake and transfer to the oven for 15 minutes, or until golden and bubbling. Delicious served with a fresh green salad.