We’ve made this a few times for and it’s never failed to impress. Reliable comfort food with lots of tasty additions!
Wine suggestion: we opened a velvety Côtes du Rhône red by Domaine Roche. A charming and quite sophisticated Grenache, Syrah and Carignan that we’ve enjoyed before. If you’re looking for a step up from this, their Cairanne is a joy and really shows the class of this under-sung appellation near Chateauneuf du Pape.
Loaded Chicken Pasta Bake – serves 6
- 350g penne pasta
- 150g streaky bacon rashers
- 100g baby spinach
- 80g sundried tomato strips in oil, drained and roughly chopped
- 2 tsp chopped parsley, to serve
FOR THE CHICKEN:
- 500g skinless and boneless chicken thigh fillets
- ¾ tsp each cooking salt and black pepper
- 30g unsalted butter
FOR THE SAUCE:
- 30g unsalted buter
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 60ml dry white wine
- 50g plain flour
- 500ml full-fat milk, hot
- 250ml double cream
- 375ml chicken stock
- ½ tsp each onion powder and garlic powder
- 1 tsp cooking salt
- 100g finely grated Parmesan
- 250g grated mozzarella
Heat the oven to 180C/160C Fan.
Bring a large pan of water to the boil and add plenty of salt. Cook the pasta according to the timings on the pack, then drain and leave to cool.
Place the bacon rashers in a large pan over a medium-high heat and cook for a few minutes until golden, then turn them over and cook for another 2 minutes. Drain on some paper towels, then chop into 1cm pieces. Discard the bacon fat in the pot.
Season the chicken with the salt and pepper. Melt the butter in the same pan over a medium-high heat. Cook the chicken for 4 minutes on each side, then set aside to rest for 5 minutes before slicing into 1cm thick slices.
Melt the butter for the sauce in the same pan over a medium-high heat. Add the garlic and cook for 20 seconds before adding the wine. Simmer rapidly for a couple of minutes or until almost evaporated. Lower the heat to medium, add the flour and stir for 1 minute. Gradually add the milk and keep stirring until thickened, then add the cream and stock. Bring the sauce to a simmer and stir for about 5 minutes or until thick enought to coat the back of a wooden spoon.
Stir in the onion and garlic powder, salt, pepper and two-thirds of the Parmesan and mozzarella. Stir until the cheese has melted.
Stir in the spinach, chicken, sundried tomato, most of the bacon and all of the pasta. Pour into a 30 x 22cm baking dish, sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan, then the mozzarella and bacon. Bake for 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden.
Leave to stand for 5 minutes before serving sprinkled with parsley.
(Original recipe from Recipetin Eats Dinner by Nagi Maehashi, Pan Macmillan, 2023.)
Jono & Jules do food & wine 