Chicken Pasta Bake
Chicken Pasta Bake is an easy cheesy recipe using rotisserie chicken, bacon, cheese and pasta that makes the perfect family dinner! The leftovers are even better and somehow even more tasty.
Ingredients
- 500 grams fusilli pasta or your preferred pasta shape
- 2 tbsps olive oil
- 1 large onion peeled and diced
- 1 teaspoon chicken spice
- 1 teaspoon vegetable spice
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp. tomato paste
- 800 grams canned chopped tomatoes
- 1 rotisserie chicken deboned, skinless (Or homemade grilled chicken breasts )
- 250 grams cooked diced bacon. If using shoulder bacon slice into cubes.
- 120 grams double thick cream half cup
- 1 cup grated mature cheddar cheese
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese
- finely chopped fresh parsley handful
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 190°C / 374°F.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta for about a minute less than the package instructions. Taste it and just before it gets soft, drain it and set aside. While the pasta cooks, cook the chicken (if not using rotisserie), onions and bacon.
- Heat a large non stick pan and add the oil and cook the onions on medium heat for about 5 minutes until soft with a pinch of salt.
- Add the tomato paste, vegetable spice, and seasoning, combine.
- Add the canned tomatoes and cream, bring to a low simmer, add the cooked bacon, chicken and pasta. Combine and transfer to a baking dish.
- Top with cheeses, cheddar and mozzarella.
- Bake in a preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the cheese on top has melted and turned light golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and garnish with fresh parsley. Enjoy!
Notes
Pan
Make sure your pan is large enough because when you add the pasta into the sauce it will spill over if upur pan is small. Better still, use a pan with high sides.
Pasta Servings
Remember that typically, it's about 100 grams per person serving. 500 grams of pasta will feed 4 to 6 people comfortably (if they not too hungry!). 500 grams of pasta is one packet of pasta and that's the amount that must go into the pan, + the tomato sauce so judge the pan size accordingly.
add about ¼ cup of water not more.
Cook the Pasta: Cook the pasta until it’s cooked but not soft. Check your packet instruction and cook it for one minute less than the instructions. Generally if your are using short thick pasta like fusilli or penne, it takes 10 to 12 minutes to cook so I would suggest cooking it for 9 minutes.
Make Ahead:
Make the complete recipe, cover with foil and leave in the fridge until ready to bake the next day. Remove the Chicken Pasta Bake from the oven and leave on the kitchen counter to reach room temperature while you preheat the oven to 190°C / 374°F. About 20 minutes.
Add about ¼ cup of chicken stock to the dish (slowly pour around the dish) place in the oven and leave till nice and hot.
Refrigerate
Store in a sealed container (pyrex dish) and warm as needed for a day or two with a quick pop in the microwave.
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