CHicken and leek pasta bake
| 175 g | chicken fillets cut into thirds (half a packet) |
| 2 | spring onions |
| 125 g | trimmed leek (more or less 1 leek) |
| 125 ml | white wine (half a mug) |
| 250 ml | cold water (1 mug) |
| 1 tsp | Sea salt flakes |
| 250 ml | blue lid full-fat milk (1 mug) |
| 40 g | soft unsalted butter |
| 40 g | plain flour |
| 1 tsp | Dijon mustard |
| 25 g | parmesan, grated |
| 150 g | cheddar, grated, (I used Cathedral city) |
| 250 g | penne |
| Preheat oven to 220°C. |
| Chop the 175g of chicken fillets into thirds, set aside with 2 spring onions roughly chopped/cut up. [Plate 1] |
| Chop up the 125g of leeks into 1cm slices. Might want to clean. [Plate 2] |
| Put the 125ml of wine and the 250ml of cold water into a large glass. Feel free to measure with a mug. [Large glass 1] |
| Put the 250ml of milk in a mug. [Mug 1] |
| Set aside the 40g of unsalted butter and, separately, the 40g of plain flour. [Ramekin 1 & 2] |
| Grate the 25g of parmesan, set aside. Grate (for hours on end) the 150g of cheddar. [Bowl 1 & 2] |
| Set aside 250g of penne. [Bowl 3] |
| Get out 2 saucepans and on the hob. Fill one with water and put the heat on so it’ll be boiling by the time we want to put the pasta on. |
| Stage 1: Cook the main ingredients |
| Put some oil in one of the saucepans (as I said, the other one we’ll use for the pasta). Fry the chicken and the spring onions until the chicken has been browned. Only needs 5 or so mins. Set aside. |
| Then whack in the leeks, with the white wine and cold water mixture and the 1 teaspoon of sea salt flakes, cover with a lid and cook for about 9-10 minutes. Give it a robust stir mid-way through. Do not chuck it away. |
| Drain the cooking liquid through the sieve into the Pyrex measuring jug, and then set aside the leeks with the chicken and spring onions. |
| Stage 2: mustard roux and leeky white sauce |
| Add the milk to the cooking liquid in the pyrex measuring jug. If the line doesn’t reach 500ml, top it up with a bit more milk. |
| Make sure there’s no leek left in the saucepan. |
| Melt the butter in the saucepan on a medium heat. Keep the heat on. Add the flour and mustard and use the whisk to to form a roux. Should only take a min or two, it’s super quick. Take off the heat. |
| Pour in the milky-leek liquid in small-ish stages, just so you’re incorporating the roux into the liquid at every stage with the whisk and getting rid of the lumps. |
| Put the medium heat back on. Return to the wooden spoon and stir continually for 10 mins until it gets thick. You’ll kinda know. |
| Turn off the heat. Add the parmesan and four fifths of the cheddar (approx 125g). Mix it in thoroughly until no lumps/melted in. Season with pepper to taste. |
| Add the chicken, spring onions and leeks to the sauce and mix. |
| Stage 3: bake |
| By now, the other saucepan should be boiling. Add the penne. Cook for 11 minutes or so (depending on the packet, I’d do nearer the bottom end of the spectrum it gives). |
| Once finished, drain with a colander. |
| Add half of the sauce to the baking dish. Add the penne. Then add the rest of the sauce. Mix it well. Sprinkle the leftover cheddar on top. |
| Add to the oven and bake for 20-25 mins. I’d turn around in the oven half way through. I like it when it’s a bit more brown on top. |
| Leave for 5-10 mins to stand, although please don’t let it get cold! |