Chicken pasta bake
Aug
LUNCH/DINNER
Chicken pasta bake
- 300 g Leftover roast chicken
- 450 g whole meal penne
- 240 g spinach
- 1 onion
- 200 ml milk
- 2 tbsp Whole meal flour
- 180 g parmesan cheese
- 25 g butter
Tips/Notes
Tips/NotesPrepare two dishes and put one in the freezer ready to thaw and heat up in the oven for one of those busy week night when there is no time to cook anything else.
METHOD
1. Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the pasta until it is just slightly undercooked, approximately 3 minutes less than what the packet recommends. Reserve a cup of the cooking water.
2. In a pan large enough to hold all the ingredients later, gently melt the butter and cook the onions until soft, add the flour and cook for 30 seconds while you stir continuously. Add the milk and continue to stir with a wooden spoon or whisk until it is completely smooth and thickened. Add a touch of nutmeg and the washed and, if you prefer, chopped spinach. Stir in half the cheese and mix the shredded chicken and penne. Ensure the pasta is well covered in the sauce. If too dry add a splash of the pasta cooking water.
Transfer the pasta and sauce to a baking dish, unless you have used an oven proof casserole for the sauce, in which case you can just smooth the top, sprinkle with parmesan and put in the oven at 200C for 20min, until the cheese has started to brown and crisp.
3. Serve with a green salad and you have a complete meal!
VARIANTS
You can of course make this pasta from scratch, just debone and cut a leg of chicken for every two adults into small bites. Pour a tbsp of olive oil in a pan and fry the morsels until nice and brown. Add 100ml of water (or stock if you have any handy) and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, approximately 8 minutes but check by cutting a piece in half and ensuring that it’s not pink in the middle.
You could also poach the chicken legs in enough water to cover them and shred it after cooked. I suggest you add a splash of white wine and some herbs to the water and use these aromatic cooking juices once the chicken is cooked to make your white sauce.
You can try other vegetables, in the autumn this dish is particularly nice with a handful of cleaned and chopped wild mushrooms instead or alongside your spinach.
Butter may be substituted by groundnut oil and the cheese with wholemeal breadcrumbs.
Vegetarian version: substitute the chicken with some cooked and drained mixed beans and some pine nuts.
Vegan version: use mixed cooked beans and pine nuts instead of the chicken, groundnut oil instead of butter and breadcrumbs instead of cheese.