Bursting with flavour, nutrients and colour, this delicious, moreish cheesy pasta bake is loaded with roast peppers, tinned tuna, sweetcorn and spinach. Comfort food at its best!

Based on my Pasta Bake – Core Recipe and using mostly store cupboard ingredients, this recipe works well in the summer or winter. Simply add tinned tuna, frozen or tinned sweetcorn, onion, roast peppers and fresh spinach. Delicious served with a crisp green salad and garlic bread, this dish also re-heats well the following day in the microwave.

Vegetarian in the house like us? Simply spoon a portion of the bake into a separate baking dish before you add the tuna and cook separately. Very easy to keep everybody happy!

How to make Tuna and Sweetcorn Pasta Bake with Roast Red Pepper and Spinach

This dish is very easy to make with just two pans and a baking tray to wash. Wonderful make ahead dish for just a few people or a crowd. There are just a few simple steps.

Collect all your ingredients together:

For the roast vegetables:

red peppers
red onion
olive oil
fine salt
freshly ground black pepper

For the cheese sauce:

unsalted butter
cloves of garlic
plain/all-purpose flour
milk
strong cheddar cheese
mozzarella cheese
parmesan
fine salt
freshly ground black pepper

Pasta and other vegetables:

dried pasta e.g. macaroni/elbow, penne, rigatoni
tin of tuna
frozen or tinned sweetcorn
fresh baby spinach

Roast the peppers and onion and cook the pasta.

Make the cheese sauce.

Add the sweetcorn, spinach, peppers and onion, pasta and tuna. Cover and cook in the oven.

Remove the cover, scatter over the remaining cheese and finish cooking.

For more detailed guidance on making pasta bakes, please see my Pasta Bake – Core Recipe here.

Serve!

Made this recipe?

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Photograph of Tuna Pasta Bake with Roast Red Peppers, Sweetcorn and Spinach

Tuna and Sweetcorn Pasta Bake with Roast Red Pepper and Spinach

Bursting with flavour, nutrients and colour, this delicious, moreish cheesy pasta bake is loaded with roast peppers, tinned tuna, sweetcorn and spinach. Comfort food at its best!

Course Lunch, Main Course, Supper

Cuisine European

Keyword Baked, Cheese, Pasta, Roast Pepper, spinach, Tuna

Author Susan

Ingredients

Roast the vegetables:

2 red peppers, stem and seeds removed and chopped into 1 – 1½cm pieces (*see notes)
1 red onion, peeled and chopped into 1 – 1½cm pieces (*see notes)
1 tablespoon olive oil
⅛ teaspoon fine salt
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

For the cheese sauce:

40g unsalted butter
16g/4 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
40g plain/all-purpose flour
600ml milk
115g strong cheddar cheese, grated (*see notes)
85g mozzarella cheese, grated (*see notes)
50g parmesan, finely grated (*see notes)
⅛ teaspoon fine salt
⅛ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Pasta and other vegetables:

200g dried pasta e.g. macaroni/elbow, penne, rigatoni
1 x 200g tin of tuna, drained
150g/1 cup of frozen or tinned sweetcorn
100g fresh baby spinach, shredded

To serve:

¼ of the grated cheese from above
chopped parsley
crisp green salad with balsamic dressing
garlic bread

Instructions

Collect together your equipment (see Recipe Notes below) and ingredients.
Preheat oven to Fan Oven 200°C/220°C/425°F/Gas Mark 7.
Roast the vegetables: mix the red pepper and onion with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook in the oven for 10 minutes, take out of the oven and stir. Put back in the oven and cook for a further 10 minutes or until soft and slightly charred at the edges.
When you take the vegetables out of the oven, turn the temperature down to Fan Oven 180°C/200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.
For the pasta: cook the pasta according to packet instructions but for 2 minutes less than recommended, usually around 8 – 12 minutes. When the pasta is al dente, drain well and return to the pan.
For the sauce: in a medium saucepan melt the butter, add the garlic and cook for 1 minute until aromatic. Add the flour and cook for a couple of minutes stirring continuously with a wooden spoon.
Add all the milk to the butter, garlic and flour and mix vigorously with a balloon whisk until the milk is evenly incorporated and there are no lumps. Bring to the boil, reduce the temperature and simmer gently for 3 – 4 minutes, stirring continuously, either with a wooden spoon or the balloon whisk.
Mix the three cheeses together and stir ¾ of the cheese into the sauce and mix well. Add some freshly ground black pepper and taste to see if it needs some extra salt. (Set the remaining cheese aside for the topping.)
Stir in the:
a. sweetcorn and shredded spinach – stir well to allow the spinach to wilt
b. roasted vegetables
c. cooked pasta and tuna.
Spoon the pasta and sauce into a buttered ovenproof dish and cover with foil.
To cook: bake in the oven for 30 – 40 minutes or until hot and bubbling. (If you have prepared the Pasta Bake in advance and you are cooking it straight from the fridge, see Recipe Notes below for timings.)
Take out of the oven, remove the foil and sprinkle over the remaining cheese. Put back in the oven, uncovered for a final 10 – 15 minutes. It is cooked when the cheese has melted and lightly browned and the bake is piping hot throughout.
Take out of the oven and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve with a crisp green salad and balsamic dressing as well as some garlic bread, if desired.

Recipe Notes

Equipment:

kitchen scales and measuring spoons
chopping board and knife
baking tray
medium saucepan x 2
cheese grater
sieve or colander
buttered ovenproof dish

Roast vegetables:

the roast peppers could be replaced with tinned/bottled roast peppers. If adding peppers this way, add the onion with the garlic to the butter and cook for 3 – 4 minutes.

Cheese:

This recipe uses 250g cheese. You can vary the combination suggested here. E.g. If you prefer you can use just cheddar cheese or a mix of cheddar and mozzarella or mozzarella and parmesan. Alternatively you could use some gruyere cheese or Red Leicester. Any cheese that melts well.

Portions:

This really depends on how hungry you are! I find the quantity here is more than sufficient for 4 of us with a salad and garlic bread. However if you have big appetites or are feeding teenage boys you may wish to increase by 50% or even double the quantities. Any left overs warm up really well in the microwave the following day.

Cooking times:

The length of time your Pasta Bake will take to cook will depend on:

the dish you have used, which in turn will affect the depth of the Pasta Bake
your oven, and
how cold the Bake is before going into the oven.

Before adding the cheese, check the centre of the Bake. Sometimes the edges are bubbling and very hot whilst the centre can still be only a little warm. Add the cheese when the centre is hot but not yet boiling/bubbling.

Cooking from the fridge:

If you have prepared this dish in advance, up until the end of point 11, and you are cooking it directly from the fridge, you will need to give it an extra 10 minutes in the oven with the foil. I.e. foil on for 40 minutes, remove foil, top with remaining cheese and continue to cook without the foil for a further 10 – 15 minutes.

Tuna and Sweetcorn Pasta Bake with Roast Red Pepper and Spinach