Yotam Ottolenghi’s tray bake recipes

I’ve been making lots of tray bakes recently. I am not sure I like the term – 1970s convenience food springs to mind – but I love what it stands for: the idea that, after doing the prep, you can sit down with a cuppa or a glass of wine and relax for an hour or two while your meal more or less cooks itself. And, unlike a stew, which offers the cook a similar break, a bake retains much of the freshness and integrity of its components, particularly vegetables.Pasta and butternut squash cake (pictured above)This ‘cake’ was a revelation to me: who would have thought you could cook pasta for two hours and end up with something fresh, super-comforting and full of texture? Serve hot for lunch or dinner, or leave to cool, cut into wedges and have it as a portable cold lunch for work, school or as part of a picnic spread. Bear in mind that the chilli heat really comes through, so leave it out if you want to make this more child-friendly.Prep 20 minCook 2 hr 30 minServes 6250g fresh egg lasagne s...