So, one of my “go-to” recipes when I want something tasty but not packed with calories is this Chicken, Leak and Mushroom Pasta Bake. I usually do it to serve two, but its easily modified for one, three, four, five, six, seven, etc up to four hundred thousand…so long as you have a pan (and oven) big enough!
Ingredients (for 2) are:
- 2 chicken breasts (diced into fairly small chunks)
- 1 large leek (or 2 smaller ones) sliced into strips
- mushrooms (as much or as little as you like, I used about 3/4 of a “punnet” (again, chopped into fairly small chunks)
- 120g Pasta (any variety, I like brown pasta!)
- 1tbsp light cream cheese with garlic and herbs
- 100m milk (ish, depending how thick / thin you want the sauce)
- grated parmesan or other hard cheese to taste (about 40-60g)
- bread crumbs (about 1 slice)
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- sprinkle of nutmeg
- 1 heaped tsp mustard
- cornflour (enough to thicken)
What do I do with all this lovely stuff??
- Firstly, add the leaks and the mushrooms to a pan and dry-fry until they are softened, then add the chicken and brown that too
- Meanwhile, boil the pasta in a separate pan until al-dente (slightly crunchy!)
- In the main pan, add the cream cheese and stir-through until the ingredients are all coated.
- Next add about 1heaped tsp of water to some milk and add to the pan.
- Slowly add the milk, stirring the sauce until you have used enough to make the sauce coat all the ingredients but its not too thick or thin (note, you might need more milk or cornflour here, depending on your other ingredients.
- Now add the mustard and spices and salt and pepper to taste and stir through
- Add the grated cheese, reserving a little for putting in the breadcrumb topping
- The pasta should be cooked now, add it to the sauce and stir through
- Put it all in an oven-proof dish, top with breadcrumbs and cheese and bake in the middle of a pre-heated oven (about 200 c) for 15-20 minutes, until browned and bubbling.
- Serve with some green vegetables
- Enjoy!
