Cheesy broccoli and chicken pasta bake

Delicious melting cheese, tender chicken, oodles of pasta and a tasty crunchy topping! Does pasta bake get any better than this? This gorgeous meal is certainly indulgent, but thanks to the knockout flavours you won’t regret one bite! The bake itself uses creamy herb and garlic cheese, while the topping has mature cheddar for extra bite. Of cause it’s not all bad… There’s broccoli and mushrooms in it too so you do get some veggies!

Ingredients

• 350g pasta shells or quills
• 200g broccoli, cut into very small florets and the stems thinly sliced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 350g boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
• 175g mushroom, quartered
• 4 tbsp sundried tomato paste
• 80g herb and garlic cream cheese
• 284ml cooking cream

For the topping

bunch of spring onions, finely sliced
85g mature cheddar, grated
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
50g flaked almonds

Method

1. Preheat oven to 190C. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Throw in the pasta, stir well and return to the boil. Cook for 6 minutes, then add the broccoli and cook for 5-6 minutes more until the pasta is just cooked. Drain well, then return to the pan.

2. Heat the oil in a wide pan, add the chicken pieces and fry until lightly browned. Tip in the mushrooms and stir fry for 1 minute, then stir in the tomato paste, cheese and cream. Gently simmer, stirring, until the cheese has melted to thicken the sauce. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Pour the sauce over the pasta, stirring gently until coated, then tip into a shallow ovenproof dish (about 1.7 litre capacity) and level the top. Mix the spring onions, cheddar, garlic and almonds for the topping and sprinkle over the pasta. Bake for 20 minutes until golden.