Pasta with Chicken and Peppers au gratin (Recipe by Annabel Karmel)
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Chicken with pasta is quite unusual but this creamy pasta with a golden, bubbly topping makes a great combination.
Ingredients:
- 1 chicken breast, cut into small strips
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Vegetable oil or margarine for frying
- ½ small red pepper, de-seeded and cut into strips
- ½ small yellow pepper, de-seeded and cut into strips
- 25g butter or margarine
- 25g flour
- 250ml milk
- 50g Parmesan cheese, grated
- 50g thin dried spaghetti or fresh pasta.
Season the chicken with a little salt and pepper and sauté for about 2 minutes in the oil or margarine. Add the peppers and sauté together with the chicken for 3 or 4 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
To prepare the sauce, melt the butter or margarine and stir in the flour over a low heat, stirring constantly for 2 or 3 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and vigorously stir in the milk. When the sauce is well blended, stir over a medium heat until it is thick and smooth. Off the heat, stir in 35g of the Parmesan cheese and season lightly with salt and pepper (remember the cheese will already make the sauce quite salty).
Cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling water but leave it a little undercooked as it will be cooked again when it is placed under the grill. Drain well and mix with the chicken, peppers and cheese sauce and put it into an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top of the pasta and place under a hot grill for a few minutes until the topping is brown and bubbly.