I was quite surprised when I looked through my blog posts earlier and discovered that I haven’t posted this recipe before – it is one of those ‘tried and tested’ ones that I’ve been making for years! In fact, my Mum used to make it when I was younger and it was one of the few things that I could actually cook when I left home to go to uni. You can use any pasta you like for this – macaroni works really well – but I used penne today. It was either that or our Simpsons pasta that Helen bought us – but you wouldn’t have recognised the Simpsons for the courgettes so we’re saving that for another day!

Ingredients

120g pasta
1 tin chopped tomatoes
2 tsp mixed herbs
Black pepper
1 tin tuna in brine (or spring water – but not in oil)
150g low fat cottage cheese
1-2 medium size courgettes
1-2 cloves of garlic
4 mushrooms
A handful of spinach
Grated cheese of your choice

Method

1. Put the pasta on to boil and preheat the oven to 200/400/Gas mark 6. Tip the tomatoes into another pan and add the herbs and some black pepper. Leave to simmer.

2. Slice the courgettes and chop the garlic. Put some olive oil in a pan and add the courgette and garlic, cooking until softened.

3. Drain the tuna and put into a bowl. Add the cottage cheese, season with black pepper and mix well.

4. When the pasta is cooked, drain and mix in the tomatoes, before adding the tuna and cottage cheese mix. Add the vegetables and stir well, before pouring into an oven proof dish.

5. Grate some cheese over the top before cooking in the oven for around 20 minutes. Serve with some salad and enjoy!