How to turn pasta odds and ends into a winning bake – recipe

Mixed-up pasta bits and stale crisps combine with beans and cheese ends to make a fun and nutritious meal

The Northern Pasta Co’s new cookbook, Pasta For The People, includes a recipe for my pasta mista fritatta, a super-easy, child-friendly way to use up the end of a bag of pasta; it’s also a great vehicle for giving kids a filling, protein-rich meal with a portion of veg. I’ve come up with today’s dish in much the same spirit, and it ticks all the boxes.

Mac and cheese will always be a family favourite, but how can we make it more nutritious? Well, I add beans for protein and micronutrients. Butter beans are lovely and creamy, as are cannellini and haricot, but, really, any white beans will do. If your child doesn’t like beans, mash them roughly in the pan (or blitz with a stick blender) and they’ll magically disappear into the sauce.

Pasta mista is a demonstration of classic Italian thrift and ingenuity. When you end up with odds and ends of different pasta shapes, don’t fret. Instead, just mix them together to create a fun mix of assorted shapes. Yes, they cook at different times, but that doesn’t matter here not only because the pasta finishes cooking in the oven, but also because a variety of firmness adds welcome texture to the final bake.

Once made, the mac and cheese will keep in the fridge for up to five days. It’s delicious eaten cold, or cut into bricks and fried for breakfast.

300g dried mixed pasta shapes, or macaroni Salt and black pepper 100g peas, or chopped green beans 70g butter 2 tsp dijon mustard, or English mustard (optional) 80g wholegrain flour, or plain flour 360ml whole milk 800g (2 x 400g cans) white beans, plus the aquafaba liquid 200g cheddar, or crumbled cheese-ends 20g stale crisps, or crackers, or 40g breadcrumbs 1 tomato, sliced, to garnish, optional

Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7. Cook the mixed pasta shapes in plenty of salted boiling water until just cooked, but still a little firm to the bite. Stir the peas (or chopped green beans) into the pasta pot, then drain and leave in the colander.

Put the same pan back on a low heat, add the butter and cook until melted. Stir in the mustard, if using, and the flour and cook, stirring, for two minutes. Whisk in the milk a third at a time, whisking out any lumps before adding the next batch, then tip in the two tins of white beans, liquid and all. Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring often, then take off the heat, stir in 170g of the grated cheddar until melted, then season to taste.

Stir the drained pasta and peas into the sauce. If your pan is ovenproof, leave the mix in there; otherwise, transfer it to a roughly 20cm x 20cm casserole dish. Scatter over the remaining 30g grated cheddar and the crushed stale crisps, and the optional sliced tomato, then bake for 20 minutes, until golden on top. Leave to cool and rest for five minutes, then serve with your favourite salad or vegetables.