Jamie Oliver’s Greens Mac ‘n’ Cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC (350ºF/Gas 4).
2. Trim, halve and wash the leek and peel the garlic, then finely chop the broccoli along with the stalks, reserving the florets for later. Place the chopped vegetables in a large casserole pan with the butter over a medium heat, then drop in the thyme leaves and cook for 15 minutes, or until tender, stirring regularly.
3. Stir in the flour, followed by the milk slowly, then simmer for 10 minutes, or until thickened, stirring regularly.
4. Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water for 5 minutes, then drain.
5. Grate the parmesan and most of the cheddar into the sauce, and mix well.
6. Tip into a blender, add spinach and whiz until smooth – you may need to work in batches. Season generously with sea salt and pepper, then stir in the pasta and broccoli florets, loosening with a splash of milk if needed.
7. Transfer to a 25cm x 35cm baking dish, grease with the remaining cheddar and scatter over the almonds. Bake for 30 minutes, or until beautifully golden and bubbly.

Suggestions

• Substitute spinach for any interesting fresh or frozen vegetable, discarding any tough stalks. I sometimes add breadcrumbs on top for a bonus crunch. Delicious!
• To make it vegetarian: Swap the Parmesan for a vegetarian hard cheese.

This recipe is an edited excerpt. vegetable By Jamie Oliver (Penguin Random House). Recipe © Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited 2019. This recipe appears in the TV series Jamie’s Ultimate Wedge.