BBC Good Food Leek, Mackerel and Pasta Bake for the Slow Cooker

Based on a BBC Good Food leek, mackerel and penne UK recipe.
From their popular slow cooker cookbook, (see below for my book review).
This is my version of a slow cooker family pasta dish.
And is a really good basic slow cooker pasta recipe. With a light yet creamy sauce. Which you can easily adapt to suit different tastes. See the recipe notes for some ideas on ways to tweak this slow cooker recipe.

BBC Good Food Leek & Penne Bake – My Version

This slow cooker recipe is my tweaked version of a BBC Good Food recipe. Which is included in their very popular BBC Good Food: Slow Cooker Favourites Cookbook (see my review). This recipe book is handy for plenty of easy family meal ideas. Especially for if you’re looking for a good range of recipes using fish, seafood and chicken (mainly whole or breast) slow cooker UK recipes.

I have tweaked the recipe sightly. But this recipe includes a very useful and successful method for cooking penne pasta in the slow cooker.

As the smoked mackerel is added after the slow cooking has been done. You could just as easily replace the mackerel with other suitable cooked ingredients. Such as cooked sliced chicken, fried bacon or mushrooms. Or just substitute it with another type of fish. For more ideas, see my recipe notes below.

Also included below, a link to the stove top version of the original recipe online.

Ingredients (2 to 4 servings)

Medium leek, trimmed, washed and sliced.
1 to 2 tb butter.
200 ml reduced-fat creme fraiche.
700 ml hot vegetable stock.
175 g penne pasta, uncooked.
1 to 2 gherkins, diced, optional.
Freshly ground black pepper.
2 smoked mackerel fillets, skin removed and cut into large chunks.
25 g bread, (preferably stale) cut into medium croutons/chunks.

I made this slow cooker pasta recipe in a Morphy Richards Accents Sear and Stew 3.5 L Slow Cooker (See my review).

How to cook penne pasta in the slow cooker for this creamy pasta bake

Method (Total Cooking Time: About 2 hours)

Place the leeks in the slow cooker pot, in one layer. Top with the butter. Cover and cook on High for 1 hour, until softened.
Mix the hot stock with the creme fraiche. Pour into the slow cooker pot. Add the penne pasta, pepper and gherkins, if using. Stir and make sure the pasta is immersed in the liquid. Cover and cook on High for 50 minutes, until the pasta is very nearly cooked through. Turn the slow cooker off and leave to stand for 5 to 10 minutes. By which time the pasta will finish cooking and absorb any remaining liquid, without overcooking.
Add the mackerel, stir and tip everything into an ovenproof dish. Scatter the bread chunks over the top and toast under a hot grill, until the top is golden brown. Or if you don’t have a grill, you can fry the bread chunks in a little vegetable oil until golden brown. And then serve on top of each portion of pasta.

Recipe Notes

Variations: you could replace the smoked mackerel in the recipe above with a variety of ingredients, as long as it is cooked – as it’ll be added at the end of the cooking time. So you could make this a vegetarian pasta bake with roasted peppers, fried sliced mushrooms or steamed brocoli. Make it a meaty pasta dish with crispy bacon, cooked shredded chicken, turkey or ham. Or swap the mackerel with other smoked fish such as smoked salmon, kippers or cooked smoked haddock. Or use seafood such as cooked prawns, mussels or mixed seafood.
For a stove top version of the original recipe online. Visit: BBC GoodFood Leek and Mackerel Pasta Bake.