Special spaghetti cake
With spinach, cheese and sun-dried tomatoes
Ingredients:
600 ml double cream
4 large free-range eggs
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
60 g mature Cheddar cheese , grated
60 g mixed smelly cheese (such as Brie, Stilton and goat's cheese) , cubed
2 large handfuls baby spinach , washed, spun dry and roughly chopped
1 fresh red chilli , deseeded and finely chopped
140 g sun-dried tomatoes in oil , drained and roughly chopped
400 g spaghetti , just-cooked
1 knob butter
a few sprigs fresh sage , leaves picked
Method
1.Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. In a large bowl beat the double cream and eggs with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Add the grated Cheddar, most of the smelly cheese, the spinach, chilli, sun-dried tomatoes and the cooked spaghetti. Gently stir to mix well.
2.Melt the butter in an ovenproof frying pan, around 11inches in diameter, and swirl it around so the base of the pan is nicely coated. Slowly pour in the spaghetti mixture and shake the pan to even the mixture out. Bake in the hot oven for 30 minutes until it starts to crisp on top. At this point, take it out of the oven and use the back of a spoon to make small indents into the top of the bake. Toss the sage leaves in a little olive oil then press one into each dip with a small cube of the remaining cheese on top.
3.Return to the oven and cook for 10 more minutes until crisp. Remove and leave to rest for a few minutes. Serve in lovely wedges with a fresh green salad on the side.
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Spaghetti cake recipe
•Ingredients
• 150ml (5fl oz) half-fat crème fraiche
• 150ml (5fl oz) single cream
• 4 medium eggs
• 2 tbsp finely grated Parmesan
• 60g (2oz) mature cheddar, grated
• 300g (10oz) spaghetti
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, finely sliced
• 6 rashers smoked streaky bacon, chopped
• 200g (7oz) baby-leaf spinach
• 50g (2oz) cherry tomatoes, halved
Preheat the oven to gas 6, 200°C, fan 180°C. In a large bowl, mix together the crème fraiche, single cream, eggs and half the cheeses. Season and set aside. Kids will love doing this.
Cook the spaghetti until it almost cooked but still wtih a good bite – 2 or 3 minutes less than the suggested cooking time on the packet. Drain, run under cold water to stop it cooking, drain again and set aside.
Heat a dash of olive oil in a 24cm ovenproof frying pan, add the onion and fry for 3-4 minutes, or until softened. Add the bacon and fry for another 3-4 minutes, or until golden. Add the spinach and allow to wilt for a minute or 2. Remove from the heat, then mix this and the cooked spaghetti with the cream mix. Kids will love mixing everything together in a big bowl.
Add a little more olive oil to the frying pan, tip in the mixture and level the surface. Top with the remaining cheese and the halved cherry tomatoes. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden on top and the filling has almost set. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the frying pan for 10 minutes.
Slide out onto a serving plate and cut into wedges. Serve with a green salad.