* Chicken Pizza Pasta Bake

I love home made pizza and make it all the time but as yet have never taken the time to photograph and share it. Possibly because I know there will always be another opportunity.... which is good, because I'd fully intended to make and photograph a pizza this time but I was halfway through making the pizza sauce when I realised I didn't have any strong bread flour to make a pizza base, so I had to raid the cupboards for something else to take it's place... which is par for the course in this house.

Thankfully, I've developed a new shopping addiction... it doesn't replace the old one - there will always be spinach in my fridge (well duh!)... I've been on a bit of a pasta purchasing splurge just recently, and have gone from the bog standard macaroni, penne, spaghetti and fusilli sitting in neat rows in glass jars on my shelves... to just about every type of pasta I can lay my hands on that I have never cooked with, including the tortiglioni in this recipe, all wedged into various nooks and crannies throughout the house.

It's a small house.

So.

This is one of those recipes that just sort of 'happened' in a good way. Neil loved it. I loved it. I'll be cooking it again. I have a positive plethora of pasta to use up.

If we have a nuclear war - I'm set. Though it could get a bit dull after the seventh year. Perhaps I should turn my purchasing power to rice and grains as well...

...just in case.

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Chicken Pizza Pasta Bake Recipe

Serves 2

Prep time - 10 minutes
Cooking time - 35 - 40 minutes
Total time - 45 - 50 minutes

You will need
A small to medium baking dish

Ingredients
3.5oz/100g dried tortiglioni pasta (or penne)

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion - finely diced
14/oz/400g can chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree/paste
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
2 fat cloves garlic
pinch of sugar
salt
pepper
5 - 6 oz/150g cooked chicken breast - chopped
2oz/60g cheddar cheese - grated

Method

• Preheat oven to  350f/180C/160C fan/gas 4.
• Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.
• Heat the oil in a medium saucepan/skillet and gently soften the onions for 3 - 4 minutes.
• Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, basil, garlic and sugar - season with salt and pepper and simmer gently for 15 - 20 minutes.
• Drain the cooked pasta, reserving 1 ladleful of the cooking water.
• Stir the reserved cooking water into the tomato sauce - a splash at a time (use too much and you'll water the tomato flavour down, which is fine) to slacken it off slightly.
• Add the pasta and cooked chicken to the sauce and stir gently.
• Spoon into the baking dish and scatter with the cheddar.
• Cook in the oven for 10 - 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is golden and bubbling.

EAT