broccoli

I don’t have children and I have never been adverse to eating greens (ok – this might be exaggerated as I wasn’t a fan of green beans for a while and I didn’t start liking asparagus until my early twenties… and spinach – well, it needs to be creamed, right??)… but I do remember my university boyfriend stating that *If it is green, it is off* and therefore refusing to eat any vegetables that happened to be green in colour.

So if you are looking for a sneaky way to hide some greens in your food … or if you are like me and have a bag of broccoli in the fridge that you would like to use up :), then this might be the recipe for you:

this is another recipe courtesy of the BBC Good Food Website but I have adapted it, left out the mushrooms and flaked almonds (this is one nut I have never got MY nut around.. ha ha)

Chicken and Broccoli Bake

350g Pasta

200g Broccoli (cut into small florets and stems thinly sliced)

2 Tablespoons of oil

350g boneless, chickenless chicken breasts, thinly sliced

4 Tablespoons tomato paste/passatta

80gm soft cream cheese

284ml single cream

85g Mature cheddar (I acutally used Raclette cheese and it was delicious)

Bring pot of salted water the boil, add pasta and cook for 6min
Add Broccoli and cook for a further 5-6min
Drain well and return to the pan
Heat oil in a wide pan and add chicken pieces and fry until lightly browned (I like to add a squirt of lemon juice as it keeps the chicken nice and tender)
Add tomato paste, cream cheese and cream
Simmer gently, stirring until cheese has melted enough to thicken the sauce
Don’t forget to add a bit of seasoning (salt & pepper)
Pour sauce of pasta, stirring gently until coated (best to start the sauce before the pasta as the pasta has a tendency to cool and congeal ….)
Place in an ovenproof dish, top with cheddar (and a good shake of mixed dried herbs) and bake for 20min at 190C