This always goes down well at home. It’s like macaroni and cheese but with a lighter, stock-based cheese sauce, rather than a milky one. Shells are are perfect for capturing cheesy or creamy sauces, but you could use any type of short-cut, dried pasta you have in the cupboard.
Serves: 4 Preparation time: 20 minutes, plus making the stock Cooking time: 30 minutes
11½ ounces dried shells
1 large head of broccoli, thick stem removed, cut into small florets
2½ cups Vegetable Stock (see page 14)
½ cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons butter
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
5½-ounce mixture of hard cheeses, such as Gruyère (or Swiss) and sharp cheddar, coarsely grated
¼ cup day-old breadcrumbs
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water, following the package instructions, until al dente. Three minutes before the pasta is ready, add the broccoli florets to the pot. Drain the pasta and broccoli and tip them into a large, shallow casserole dish.
2. Meanwhile, bring the stock to a boil in a separate pan and boil gently until reduced slightly—to about 2 cups; this will help to concentrate its flavor. Remove from the heat and stir in the cream.
3. Melt the butter in a heavy pan over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute until softened. Stir in the flour with a wooden spoon and cook 1 minute, then gradually mix in the stock mixture, stirring continuously to make a sauce the consistency of thin custard. Add the mustard and three quarters of the cheese, and season with salt and pepper.
4. Pour the sauce over the pasta and broccoli in the casserole dish and turn until everything is combined. Sprinkle the remaining cheese and breadcrumbs over it and bake 15 to 20 minutes until golden and crisp on top.
Keep the thick broccoli stalk for use in another recipe. Peel and cut into slices to add to stir-fries, soups, and stews.
Mozzarella
A trip to an Italian delicatessen will reveal porcelain-white balls of mozzarella in a stunning range of shapes and sizes floating in tubs of whey or water. Mozzarella ranges from the single-bite globes known as bocconcini to the larger, cream-filled balls of burrata, and much more in between. Star of the show is mozzarella di bufala Campana (D.O.P.), made with buffalo milk using a protected, age-old method. In fact, all mozzarella was once made with buffalo milk, but cow’s milk is now most common. This southern Italian fresh, unripened cheese with a milky, slightly sour edge and elastic texture is equally happy used as a main ingredient in classic salads—such as insalata Caprese, when it is combined with tomato and basil—as it is in a cooked dish, such as melanzane alla Parmigiana (baked layers of eggplant, tomato, mozzarella and parmesan); its unique melting properties also make it a must-have topping on a pizza.