Cafe Lula

Believe it or not, whereas now I will stuff my face with pretty much any amazing food, up until I was about 16 I was an absolute nightmare to feed. My tastes were incredibly unsophisticated, the list of foods I didn’t like could fill a book and I rejected nearly all of the lovely food my mum cooked in favour of tomato sauce sandwiches, chicken burgers and  shop-bought chocolate swiss roll. There are some foods, though, which you can’t dislike, no matter how difficult you are. This is one of them.

I have very early memories of eating a simple tomato and mozzarella pasta bake my mum had made and I could happily eat this every day. It is so tasty, but so easy. I do sometimes add sausage or turkey and courgette to this, but I think it’s best just as it is.

This probably isn’t the exact recipe I remember from when I was younger. My mum and I do have a tendency to change a recipe a little bit each time we make it and this has been made a million times. All I know is that this is how I’ve made it this particular time. Last time might have had less shallot/more chilli/basil (I sort of forgot to add it this time). And I do realise this recipe uses a ridiculous amount of cheese, so feel free to reduce it. Whatever, this version tasted just as good as any I can remember.

You can make this vegetarian by using vegetarian mozzarella and parmesan.

Pasta bake

A Cafe Lula recipe (developed from an original by Mum)

Serves 2 hungry people

Ingredients:

olive oil, for frying

2 shallots

1 garlic clove

a few jalapeno slices, chopped (as always, I used the Discovery ones from a jar)

250g/8.75 oz passata

salt and black pepper, to season

a pinch of sugar

125g/4.25 oz mozzarella ball, sliced thinly

100g/3.5 oz grated mozzarella

250g/8.75 oz pasta

parmesan, to serve

Preheat the oven to 180C. In a wok or saucepan, heat the olive oil over a medium heat and add the shallots. Fry for 5 minutes until softened, then add the garlic and jalapenos and fry for another minute or two. Add the passata and season with the salt, pepper and sugar.

Put the pasta on to cook at this point and allow the sauce to simmer gently while the pasta cooks.

When the pasta has cooked, drain it and add it to the sauce. Stir well. Put half of the pasta in an ovenproof dish (mine is about 9″x9″), then layer with half the mozzarella ball and grated mozzarella. Then add the rest of the pasta and top with the rest of the mozzarella.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until the cheese has melted and started to crisp in places. Serve with parmesan.