Kusksu pasta bake
Recipe povided by Gaby Holland
Serves 8 (as a starter)
Ingredients
- 500g ditali pasta (zibeg)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 50g butter
- 1 large leek, finely chopped
- 1 cup vegetable or chicken stock
- A few saffron threads (optional – besides the delicate flavour they give off a deeper yellow colour to the pasta)
- 5 fresh gbejniet
- 4 dried gbejniet
- 6 large, fresh artichoke hearts
- 4 eggs
- 1½ cups ful, outer skins removed
- 1 cup fresh peas
- 100g grated Parmeggiano or Grana Padano
- small bunch of finely chopped parsley
- Salt and pepper
Method
- Boil the pasta in a large pot, 2 mins short of recommended cooking time. Rinse under cold running water to stop the cooking and drain thoroughly.
- Heat the oil and half the butter in large frying pan and stir in the leeks and gently fry for a couple of mins.
- Add the stock, saffron, ful, peas and season well.
- Cook rapidly until stock has evaporated.
- Quarter the artichokes and stir in gently into the mixture.
- Tip all into the large pasta pot and mix in the drained pasta.
- Beat the eggs and stir in together with the grated cheese, parsley and freshly ground pepper.
- Spoon the pasta mixture into a greased flat bottomed springform cake tin. If you like you may use one that has a hollow in the middle. Once baked and turned out the hollow may be filled with coloured hard-boiled eggs for a special Easter treat.
- Press the mixture down to level it out and bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for about 30 mins until the pasta is golden.
- Remove from oven and leave to cool and settle then run a blunt knife around the edge of the cake tin to loosen, place the serving plate on top of the tin and carefully turn it upside down, give it a little tap and unmould.
- If you have used a hollow cake tin fill with hard boiled eggs which may be eaten together with the pasta.
