Lunch · Dinner · Italian

Chicken, pesto & mozzarella pasta bake

Name: Chicken, pesto & mozzarella pasta bake
Total time: 50 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 500g Chicken thigh fillets; 250g Cherry tomatoes; 1 tbsp Olive oil; 400g Penne; 190g Green pesto; 300ml Half-fat crème fraîche; 2 balls Mozzarella

Pesto, cherry tomatoes and chicken through penne, under a lid of torn, melting mozzarella.

Start to finish: 50 min
Hands-on: 26 min
In the fridge: 3 days
Freezes: Yes

Contains gluten, dairy, nuts

Ingredients

4 portions

500gChicken thigh fillets
250gCherry tomatoes
1 tbspOlive oil
400gPenne
190gGreen pesto
300mlHalf-fat crème fraîche
2 ballsMozzarella

Plus salt, pepper and water.

Method

1
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan) and put a big pan of salted water on to boil. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces, season, and halve the tomatoes.
2
Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a high heat and fry the chicken for 8 minutes, turning, until golden and cooked through with no pink in the middle.
3
Meanwhile, cook the penne for 2 minutes less than the packet says, usually about 9 minutes. Scoop out a mugful of the water, then drain.
11 min, mostly hands-off
4
Stir the pesto and crème fraîche together in the empty pasta pan with a splash of the pasta water. Add the penne, chicken and tomatoes, season and toss well, then tip into a large baking dish.
5
Tear the mozzarella over the top and bake for 20 minutes, until melted and golden in patches.
22 min, mostly hands-off
6
Serve, or cool and portion into tubs for the fridge or freezer.

On the day

Microwave with a splash of water until piping hot all the way through. The mozzarella goes soft rather than stringy after a night in the fridge, and it is none the worse for it.

Cook’s tip

Thighs rather than breast are the better bet in a bake. They stay juicy through the oven, the fridge and the microwave, where breast turns dry and stringy.