Three Cheese Pasta Bake

Ingredients

• 25 g plain flour
• 80 g sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 500 ml milk, warmed
• 25 g butter
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp olive oil (optional drizzle)
• 150 g mature cheddar, grated
• 125 g mozzarella, shredded
• 50 g Parmesan, finely grated
• 400 g penne (penne or rigatoni)

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C fan (220°C conventional). Bring your widest saucepan of water to the boil. Season the pasta itself. Cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than the packet says; you want it firm, with a chalky white core when you bite one, because it will finish cooking in the oven. Drain and set aside.
2. Melt the butter in a heavy pan over medium heat, whisk in the flour and cook for a full minute until it smells biscuity; this is the raw-flour taste cooking out. Gradually pour in the warm milk, whisking hard between each addition to keep it glossy and lump-free. Simmer for 3–4 minutes, stirring, until the sauce thickly coats the back of a spoon and a finger drawn through leaves a clean line.
3. Stir the crushed garlic, Dijon and sun-dried tomatoes into the béchamel. Keep the heat gentle; the garlic only needs 30 seconds in the warm sauce to lose its raw bite and turn fragrant. Don't let it catch on the bottom.
4. Season generously with salt and plenty of black pepper. Taste the sauce now; it should taste rich and properly seasoned before the pasta goes near it. A bland béchamel makes a bland bake.
5. Tip the drained pasta into the sauce and fold through until every piece is glossy and well coated. Transfer to a shallow ovenproof dish and level the top with the back of a spoon.
6. Scatter the cheddar, mozzarella and Parmesan over in an even layer, sprinkle with the oregano and, if you want extra browning, drizzle the olive oil over the top; it helps the cheese blister rather than just melt.
7. Bake for 20–25 minutes until the top is bubbling and deeply golden, with crisp edges and a centre that's piping hot when you push a knife in. Rest for 5 minutes so it sets enough to spoon; the cheese should pull in long stretchy strands while the inside stays luxuriously creamy.