pasta

special spaghetti cake

servings
8-10

method

I discovered this dish in Italy while working on my Italian book. When full of ham, chicken and mushrooms, it’s called tetrazzini. Try my lighter vegetarian version.

Preheat the oven to 180°C. 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.

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.

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.

ingredients

• 600ml double cream
• 4 large eggs, preferably free-range or organic
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 100g mature Cheddar cheese, grated
• 100g mixed smelly cheese (e.g• Brie, Stilton or goat’s cheese), cubed
• 2 large handfuls of baby spinach, washed, spun dry and roughly chopped
• 1 fresh red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
• ½ x 280g jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and roughly chopped
• 400g just-cooked spaghetti
• a knob of butter
• a few sprigs of fresh sage, leaves picked

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1. by gem on Thu 22 Dec 2011 @ 22:08

I'm gonna try this for the girls dinner tomorrow. Can i use creme fraiche instead of double cream to cut down on the fat intake?

2. by Mick on Fri 25 Nov 2011 @ 20:59

cooking this now.. used brie cheese.. STINKS, just hope it turns out okay :(

3. by Ash on Sat 15 Oct 2011 @ 04:01

Omg this looks so good, and if Stainelee's right about it going great with mashed potato and minced beef (well, I'd use bison), then just...omg. I need to get double cream now.

4. by love2dance on Sat 08 Oct 2011 @ 00:08

LOVE IT!!!!! just made it and it's delish!!! My daughter is also a huge fan:)

5. by Nuno on Tue 27 Sep 2011 @ 18:06

Sorry for the question. What´s double cream?

6. by StaineLee on Thu 01 Sep 2011 @ 03:59

Simply nice and delicious. Sometimes I mix them with the mash potatoe and mince beef and tase really good. Easy to prepare and can use the leave over food from dinner to make it as for the breakfast on the next morning, :)

7. by Ruth on Sat 20 Aug 2011 @ 17:25

Have made this a couple of times now. We all love it!! Had a lunch for some friends and it went down a treat. Been passing on the recipe to everyone. Serve it with a lovey salad with feta cheese and olives :-) Thanks very much!!!!

8. by Lorraine on Wed 08 Jun 2011 @ 12:50

Did that tonight & loved it, although mine wasn't really like a cake, had a bit too much cheese & used the wrong cream! It turned out nicely crisp on top & creamy yummy underneath , the taste was amazing! Will do it again without stuffing up next time :D lol xx

9. by nixdagoldfish on Tue 18 May 2010 @ 16:38

this was absolutely lovely! i have made it 3 times now and my boyfriend is a massive fan even though he hates goats cheese (and i stuffed my dish with the stuff haha!!) but he really likes this! i made a half version of recipe given, two big slices each for dinner then cold leftovers to pick at after!! i think next time i might serve it on a bed of rocket for more greens.
Thanks for the recipe!!

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