Cheesy Pasta Bake With Chicken And Bacon

Cheesy Pasta Bake With Chicken And Bacon – a family favourite (and it makes great leftovers too!).
Not a lot can beat a lovely cheesy pasta bake served up with a big side of salad (obviously that makes it healthy…….)
It’s one of those dinners that the kids can polish off in no time – regardless of how many veggies I sneak in there.





















Peppers, onions, tomatoes, spinach – it all gets thrown in.
Sometimes I’ll add courgette or kale. If I’m being extra sneaky I might add some finely chopped mushroom too (I’m the only mushroom lover in our house – but they all eat mushrooms if they can’t identify them hee hee hee!).

I like it cold for lunch the next day too – although you can heat it up in the microwave with a tablespoon of water – to stop it drying out.
I sometimes wonder if I could eat pasta every day of the week and not get bored of it.
Let’s see…

Ingredients

• 400g (4½ cups) dried pasta shapes (I used rigatoni)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 large chicken breasts, cut into chunks
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, de-seeded and chopped
• 1 yellow bell pepper, de-seeded and chopped
• pinch of salt and pepper
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• 2 x 400g (14oz) tins chopped tomatoes
• 120ml (½ cup) double (heavy) cream
• 100g (3 packed cups) fresh baby spinach
• 8 rashers cooked bacon, chopped
• 100g (1 packed cup) strong cheddar cheese, grated
• 100g (1 packed cup) mozzarella, grated
• Small bunch parsley, roughly torn

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 190c/375f. Boil a large pan of water and cook the pasta for 1 minute less than recommended on the pack. Drain.
2. Whilst the pasta is cooking, heat the oil on a medium heat, in a large frying pan. Add the chicken, and cook until just sealed - about 5 minutes. Add the onion and cook for a further 3-4 minutes until the onion is softened. Add the chopped peppers, salt, pepper, garlic, tomato puree, oregano and thyme. Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes.
3. Stir in the tinned tomatoes and cream, bring to a gentle bubble, then add the pasta, spinach and cooked bacon. Stir everything together, then transfer to a large baking dish.
4. Top with the cheddar and mozzarella, and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese is golden brown.
5. Take out of the oven and top with parsley before serving.

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