FAST PASTA:

Justine Schofield shares her favourite easy dinners

Justine Schofield made her cooking debut on the first series of MasterChef, which spawned a delicious career in food, inspiring cooks around the country. This month, Justine shares some of her favourite recipes for easy dinners.

“Having a can of chickpeas on standby is great for a quick pasta dinner like this one. The chickpeas offer a creamy, nutty quality and the pancetta imparts wonderful saltiness.” – JUSTINE

Broccoli cannelloni SERVES 4 PREP 30 MINUTES COOK 1 HOUR

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for greasing

2 heads of broccoli (about 700g) 1 small handful of basil leaves 2 tablespoons pine nuts

300g fresh, full-fat ricotta

1 garlic clove, peeled grated zest of 1 lemon

½ teaspoon chilli flakes

700g tomato passata salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

255g cannelloni

1 buffalo mozzarella ball, torn WHITE SAUCE

20g butter

1½ tablespoons plain flour

300ml milk pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

30g parmesan, finely grated

1 Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a large baking dish (about 42cm x 28cm) with a little oil.

2 Cut the broccoli into florets, then peel the stems and cut into rough chunks. Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil, add the broccoli and cook for 8-10 minutes until tender. Drain and cool a little.

3 Place the basil, pine nuts, ricotta, garlic, lemon and chilli flakes in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the broccoli and pulse four or five times to puree. Scoop into a piping bag or a zip-lock bag with one corner snipped off.

4 Pour the tomato passata into the prepared dish. Drizzle over 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

5 For the white sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, add the flour and stir constantly for 2–3 minutes with a wooden spoon. Remove the pan from the heat and pour in a quarter of the milk, whisking vigorously to prevent lumps. Place back on the heat and stir in the rest of the milk. Whisk until the sauce comes to the boil and thickens. Remove from the heat, season with the nutmeg and salt and pepper, and stir in half the parmesan until melted and combined.

6 Pipe the broccoli mixture into each cannelloni tube. Arrange the filled cannelloni side by side on the tomato passata. Pour on the white sauce and spread evenly over the top to ensure the cannelloni are covered. Scatter over the mozzarella and the remaining parmesan, cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a further 20-25 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Pancetta, chickpea and chilli shells SERVES 4 PREP 10 MINUTES COOK 15 MINUTES

400g shell-shaped pasta (or any pasta shape of your choice)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 x 200g piece of flat pancetta, cut into lardons

1 small rosemary sprig

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

2 long red chillies, finely chopped

1 x 400g can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

2 tablespoons tomato paste

125 ml (½ cup) white wine (such as chardonnay or sauvignon blanc) salt flakes

30g parmesan, freshly grated

1 Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook until just al dente.

2 While the pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large frying pan over mediumhigh heat and add the pancetta. Cook for 2-3 minutes until golden. Add the rosemary, garlic and chilli and cook for a further minute before adding the chickpeas and tomato paste. Stir to coat the chickpeas in the tomato paste, then deglaze the pan with the wine. Bring to the boil and simmer for 1 minute.

3 Drain the pasta and add to the sauce, along with 125ml (½ cup) of the pasta cooking water. Toss to completely coat the pasta in the sauce. Remove the rosemary sprig, taste and season with salt.

4 Serve with the grated parmesan.

You can use speck or streaky bacon instead of the pancetta, if you like.

“A vegetarian dish the family will like. To get on the table quickly, prepare the filling and white sauce a day ahead.” – JUSTINE