Prep your ingredients

• Check out our video showing you how we prep everything before we cook. This makes the whole process much easier and the results always taste better!
• In a large none stick pan add your olive oil and butter and melt on a medium heat
• Gently fry your carrots, celery and garlic for 3 to 4 minutes or until soft.
• Put a pan of cold water with the broccoli on the stove and boil. You want to cook the broccoli Al dente. You do not want soggy broccoli it just needs to be soft enough to chop but firm enough to hold its shape. As soon as your broccoli is done drain and set aside.
• Add your grated aubergine stir well and allowed to fry gently for another 3 to 4 minutes.
• Add the spinach stir and allowed to cook until all the moisture from the spinach has evaporated. You don’t want your pan to be dry it should be nicely lubricated with olive oil. If it is dry add a drizzle of oil. I used roughly 6 tablespoons total. You may need a little more or less depending.
• Just before you drain your broccoli remove 200 ml of the water from the broccoli pan and set aside.
• In the main pan we are going to make a roux sauce. Add some more olive oil if required to lubricate the veg. Then add 3-4 tablespoons of flour add 2 at a time and stir to incorporate between.
• A roux is equal parts fat to flour however it’s not as clean cut in this dish because we have the other ingredients in the pan that require oil for frying. Plus I was always taught to make a roux as a child by eye so I find it hard to be clinical here.

  I have tried to be as accurate as possible in this recipe and I know Mrs Hardy (my highschool food technology teacher) would be flipping her nut if she read this... we came to a disagreement over roux sauce a few times in class.

  Basically you want to achieve a consistency that binds together all your oil should be absorbed by the flour. The roux should not be dry or crumbly. If you add too much flour you can rescue it with a touch more olive oil and visaversa do this before moving on.
• Now stir and allow the mix to cook for 2 minutes on a gentle heat. You want to ensure the flour cooks out or your sauce will tase of raw flour.
• Drain your broccoli as soon as it’s aldente and set aside.
• If you are making this sauce to eat now then you can put your pasta on to cook - providing it’s dry pasta. If fresh wait until the sauce is cooked.
• Now add your milk to the main pan in small quantities stirring the whole time. You want to mix and incorporate the milk bit by bit.

  Have your heat on low and add a little at a time. Be really patient hear, you’re watching for the source to come together and be smooth and silky.
• Once all the milk is fully incorporated add the 200 ml of boiled water in exactly the same way. You may not need all of the water use your judgement here.

  You are looking to create a silky sauce. If you add a little bit too much water just allow it to cook off before moving on.
• Next roughly chop your broccoli and add it to the sauce. You want a mix of smaller and bigger chunks.
• Add all the cheese to the sauce in two stages - mix to fully Incorporated
• Season to taste and serve if you are making this to freeze allow to cool, portion and freeze for a rainy day