Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
- 50 g (2oz) butter, plus a little extra for the spinach
- 25 g (1oz) flour
- 1 Tbsp. English mustard powder
- 450 ml (3⁄4 pint) full-fat milk
- 125g (4oz) Cheddar cheese
- 142 ml carton double cream
- 125 g (4oz) cooked sliced ham
- Pinch of nutmeg
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 350 g (12oz) penne pasta
- 150 g (5oz) baby spinach
- 25 g (1oz) Parmesan cheese
- Step 1
Melt the butter in a pan, stir in the flour and cook for a couple of minutes on a medium heat.
- Step 2
Add the mustard powder and milk and stir until smooth. Whisk the sauce as it comes to the boil, then simmer gently for 10min. Remove from heat, then beat in the grated cheese gradually until it melts, add the cream and roughly chopped ham, then season with nutmeg and salt and pepper.
- Step 3
Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions; drain thoroughly. Meanwhile, melt a knob of butter in a large pan, add the spinach and cook for 3min until wilted.
- Step 4
Mix together the sauce, penne and spinach and pour into a shallow ovenproof dish. Grate the Parmesan cheese over the top and cook at 200°C (400°F) mark 6 for 20–30min or until golden.
Try more of our favourite pasta bake recipes:
Tuna melt pasta bake
Greek pasta bake
Salmon pasta bake
Chicken, bacon and leek pasta bake
Easy pasta bake
Prepare ahead
Complete the recipe but don't cook it. Cool, wrap and chill for up to one day. To serve: Cook at at 200°C (400°F) mark 6 for 35-40min or until golden.
Per Serving:
- Calories: 850
- Total carbs: 76 g
- Total fat: 48 g
- Saturated fat: 29 g
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
