The Cookbook Challenge Week 26 - Green - Spinach & Broccoli Pasticcio - 2 - $ - V

You will not beat me Cookbook Challenge! Slowly but surely I am catching up on my dishes. We've only got about 9 weeks/dishes to go. I personally have about 6 months worth of dishes to cook, so one per day should see me sorted...

This week I've got my cooking groove back on after a winter slump and lots of dining out recently. The more I go out to eat, the less I want to cook so it seems.
The following recipe from Issue 5 of the MasterChef magazine caught my eye because it was 'green' which ticked a Challenge box; I am in severe need of some vegetables; and I had a vegetarian friend coming round for tea. Perfect!

Green!

There is a fair amount of preparation for this dish but it's well worth it. The recipe said it serves 4 but we got 4 dinners (one with seconds) and 2 massive lunches out of it which was good going. However, bear this in mind when you make it because it won't freeze well.
Next time I make it I think I will roast some heirloom tomatoes to serve alongside the pasta so there is some acid to cut through the richness and give the plate some colour.

Golden haloumi goodness

Ingredients

360gm haloumi, grated
300gm sour cream (light is OK to use)
8 eggs
60ml olive oil
2 bunches spinach, washed and trimmed
500gm pasta (rigatoni, penne or anything tubular)
2 onions, finely chopped (I only used 1)
1 long red chili, seeded and finely chopped
2 heads broccoli, stems removed and roughly chopped
Lemon wedges to serve

Preheat oven to 190C degrees.
Reserve 1/4 cup of cheese for the topping (I used half a cup 'cause I like it really cheesy on top).
Divide the remaining cheese into two large bowls (make sure one is massive to fit all the pasta), then divide the sour cream into each bowl. Crack 4 eggs into each bowl, season and whisk to combine.


Heat 2tsp oil in a frying pan over a high heat (I used a wok which worked really well) and cook the spinach for a couple of minutes until wilted. Drain, finely chop and set aside.
Cook the pasta in salted water for 5 minutes. It won't be cooked, but don't panic. Drain and then add to one of the egg bowls, stir through to coat with the mixture.
Heat the rest of the oil in the same pan/wok and cook the onion and chili for 5 minutes or until the onion is soft. Add the spinach and broccoli and toss for 3 minutes or until the broccoli is just cooked. Add the veggies to the other egg bowl and mix well to coat these too.
You need an oven dish that is at least 7cm deep. Pour in half the pasta and make sure the pieces are all laying flat and side by side. Pour the broccoli mixture on top of the first pasta layer and spread out evenly. Add the remaining pasta to create another flat layer and then sprinkle the reserved cheese over the top. Bake for 30 minutes or until the pasta is soft and the top is nice and golden.
Serve immediately with the lemon to squeeze on top.

Enjoy!