Swiss Pasta Gratin

INGREDIENTS

400 g vegetables lightly cooked

Note: either use a mix of cooked veg leftover from a previous meal.  Or use up a mix of veg at the bottom of your fridge, such as wrinkled potatoes, yellow broccoli, leeks, carrots.  Or use fresh vegetables

600 g cooked pasta from yesterday

4 eggs

300 g sour cream

160 g grated cheese (use Swiss Cheese for an authentic taste)

Salt, pepper and grated nutmeg to taste

Stephan Widmer, Head of Culinary, Compass Group Switzerland:

"A pasta gratin is a perfect way to use leftover food. The combination of pasta and potatoes is very similar to the Swiss national dish of Älplermagronen which got its name from shepherds who had to carry their own food up the mountains and pasta was light to carry, while cheese was something they made themselves. However, you can add all kinds of leftover food to your gratin, such as meat, vegetables, old bread for the breadcrumbs, and so much more.  There's really no limit to your creativity.  Just use this recipe as a base and experiment to your heart's content!

As is traditional with Älplermagronen, this pasta gratin goes perfectly with apple compote made from old forgotten apples."

METHOD

1. Preheat your oven to 200 °C.  
2. If you're using fresh vegetables, pre-cook them briefly so that they do not remain too crunchy in the casserole.
3. Simply put the pasta together with the cooked vegetables in a baking dish.
4. Mix the eggs in the sour cream, add salt, pepper and nutmeg and mix with the pasta and the vegetables.
   
5. Sprinkle the grated cheese on top - et voilà! The casserole is ready for the oven.
6. Cook for 40-50 minutes or until bubbling and golden brown on top.