Let’s be honest – on the picture, this gratin doesn’t look stunning…  My daughter and I tried and tried to take a good picture, yet no matter how we did it, the result just wasn’t great.  But I really hope this won’t put you off trying this recipe – because it’s really, really good, and so easy to make.  This is one of the dishes that’s on my menu plan every month, and every time, it meets with the same success.  The whole family loves it – it’s just a winner.

The great advantage of this gratin is that you get an entire nutritious meal in one dish.  You can prepare it ahead, on condition that you only add the liquid at the last minute (otherwise the pasta will absorb the liquid and your dish really won’t taste nice).

For this dish, I use frozen spinach puree – something we find very easily in Switzerland.  I’m not sure it’s that easy to find in other parts of the world though, so I’m sure you could make this with whole spinach leaves.

I have made this dish with different kinds of gluten free pasta, and it works well whatever I use.  My personal preference is for a pasta brand called Garofalo, made of a mixture of rice, corn and quinoa (click this link to find it on Amazon).

Now here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

Serves 5:

• 400 g gluten free pasta
• 200 g frozen pureed spinach 
• 200 g streaky bacon
• 600 ml vegetable stock
• 330 ml single cream
• pepper
• 100 g grated gruyere or cheddar (optional)

Method:

• Pre-heat the oven at 200°C
• Cut the streaky bacon into thin slices and fry gently in a non-stick frying pan.
• Add the frozen spinach and cook gently, until completely thawed.
• Place the uncooked pasta into a large ovenproof dish.
• Add the bacon and spinach mixture to the pasta and mix well.
• Pour the vegetable stock and the cream onto the pasta and mix again.
• Add a little pepper to taste.
• Bake in the pre-heated oven for 30 minutes.
• If you are using the grated cheese, take the dish out after 25 minutes of baking and sprinkle the cheese on top of the pasta, then bake for a further 5 minutes.  

And that’s it!!  Couldn’t be easier, could it?  Hope you enjoy it 🙂