Pasta with butternut and chicken

This recipe created itself totally accidentally. Here's how...

On a certain day, I took 2 whole butternut squash, halved and de-seeded them, and filled them with creamed spinach, before wrapping them in foil and baking them in an oven for 1½ hours at 180º Celsius. We never got around to eating them, so the next day...

I took the butternut, cut it into chunks (with or without the skin, your choice) and placed it in a buttered over-proof dish. I topped it with 250g cooked penne rigate and sprinkled it with grated Parmesan cheese. Then I took a ready-roast chicken, tore it into chunks and put in pieces in and around the butternut pasta. Then I covered the dish with foil and baked it in the oven for 30 minutes at 180º Celsius to warm it through.

Delicious with crusty bread, garlic bread or a salad.

chicken schnitzel with gnocci and spinach

place 4 chicken schnitzel on a lightly greased roasting tray and bake according to instructions, normally about 15 minutes at 180°c.

heat a tablespoon of butter and glug of olive oil a large pan over medium heat. add 500g of fresh gnocchi and fry until golden brown before turning over and allowing the other side to get nice and crispy. remove from the pan, season and set aside.

in the same pan, saute 400g of spinach with a crushed clove of garlic and a pinch nutmeg. when the spinach is just wilted, add a squeeze of lemon juice and season to taste.

serve the warm schnitzels with some cheese sauce, the fried gnocchi and spinach.

chicken and prawn curry

in a pan over medium heat, brown 1kg of cubed chicken breasts in butter, remove and set aside. add 1 finely sliced onion and fry until translucent.

add 3 teaspoons of ginger paste, 3 finely chopped cloves of garlic, 2 teaspoons of tumeric powder and 1 teaspoon of garam masala. cook until the mixture becomes fragrant.

mix 2 tablespoons of tomato paste with 1 cup of water and add to 2 pureed tomatoes. add to the pan with 1 tin (400g) of coconut cream and cook for 5 minutes.

return the chicken to the pan and cook until tender.

place 1kg of cleaned prawns on top of the chicken and allow to steam until cooked. stir through when ready to serve.

garnish with fresh mint and coriander and serve with basmati rice and naan bread.

butter chicken

combine ½ cup of natural yoghurt, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon tumeric, 2 teaspoons garam masala, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 2 teaspoons freshly grated ginger and 2 cloves of crushed garlic in a bowl. add 1kg chopped chicken breasts, stir well, cover and refrigerate overnight.

place 60g of roasted cashew nuts in a food processor and ground until fine.

heat 60g butter and 1 tablespoon of sunflower oil in a pan over medium heat, add 1 finely chopped onion, 1 teaspoon ground cardamom, 1 cinnamon stick and 1 bay leaf and cook for about 2 minutes under the onion starts to soften. reduce heat to low, add the chicken and marinade, and 2 teaspoons sweet paprika, 425ml tomato passata, the cashew powder and 150ml chicken stock. simmer for 20 minutes. stir in 1 cup of thickened cream and cook for a further 10 minutes.

garnish with whole cashew nuts, fresh coriander and serve with basmati rice and naan bread.

tomato chutney chicken

preheat oven to 180º celsius.

mix 1 tablespoon grated ginger, a pinch of chilli flakes, ¾ cup of tomato chutney, the zest and juice of 1 lemon and ½ cup of chicken stock together, and toss with 8 chicken pieces.

place in an ovenproof dish and bake, uncovered, for 35 minutes.

add 125g of rosa tomatoes and return to the oven for a further 15 minutes until cooked through and slightly caramalised.

scatter with fresh coriander before serving

mediterranean chicken

make a marinade of ½ cup of olive oil, the juice of 1 lemon, 1 teaspoon dried sage and 4 tablespoons of honey. season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. pour over 4 chicken thighs and 4 chicken drumsticks. leave preferably overnight, or a minimum of 30 minutes.

place the chicken pieces on a baking tray. scatter 300g of halved tomatoes and 60g pitted black olives around the chicken and pour the marinade over.

bake at 180° celsius for 50 minutes.

lovely with basmati rice and a fresh green salad.

chicken salad

this IS the best ever chicken salad i found in a magazine. from jamie oliver of course.

take a whole chicken, drizzle with olive oil and spice, then roast for 1 hour at 180° celsius in a large roasting dish.

take a whole ciabatta loaf and roughly break into pieces. remove the chicken from the oven and arrange the bread pieces in the roasting dish around the chicken. roast for a further 30 minutes. the bread pieces now become lovely croutons.

allow the chicken to cool and roughly tear into pieces.

while the chicken is in the oven, roast 500g of rosa tomatoes drizzled with olive oil. this will take about 20 minutes. allow to cool, reserving the juices.

fry until crispy a 250g packet of bacon, drain, cut into bite size pieces and allow to cool.

form a salad base of 500g rocket leaves and a handful of mint leaves. top with the chicken chunks, croutons, bacon and roast tomatoes and toss lightly. to the reserved tomato juice, add a dash of balsamic vinegar and use this as dressing for the salad. add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

a brilliant meal-in-one!

parmesan chicken

mix together in a shallow bowl ½ cup of melted butter, 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce and ½ teaspoon garlic powder.

in a separate bowl mix 1 cup bread crumbs, 1 cup grated parmesan cheese and 2 tablespoons dried parsley.

i use 4 chicken drumsticks and 4 thighs. dip in the butter mixture, then in the crumb mixture and place in a baking pan.

bake for 1 hour at 180˚ celsius.

serve with a garlic foccacia and green salad.

peri-peri chicken

use a butterfly cut chicken, or chicken pieces, whichever you prefer.

make a peri-peri marinade of ¾ plain yoghurt and ¼ ready-made peri-peri sauce. this you can obviously adjust to your ‘burn’ preference. leave to marinade for the afternoon.

place the chicken with the marinade in a roasting dish with a bit of olive oil. i place a mixture of whole potatoes and sweet potatoes around the chicken that have been tossed in olive oil and sprinkled with coarse salt. roast in the oven at 180º celsius for 1 hour, turning the potatoes halfway through. also, keep an eye on the chicken and when it's nicely browned, cover just the chicken with a piece of foil to prevent it from over-browning.

my fave veg of choice with this to counteract the heat is a sweet cinnamon butternut. and i'm making a sweet chili pasta salad with this.

enjoy!

crispy oven fried chicken

melt about a ½ cup of butter and pour into an ovenproof baking dish.

in a big plastic bag, mix 1 cup of flour, ¼ cup of sesame seeds, 2 teaspoons of paprika, and some salt and pepper.

i use 4 chicken thighs and 4 chicken drumsticks for this recipe.

pour about ½ cup of milk into a shallow dish. take one piece of chicken at a time and shake in the flour mixture, dip in the milk and shake in the flour mixture again. place skin side down in the melted butter. finally, drizzle some lemon juice over.

bake at 180º celsius for about 60 minutes.

enough for: 4

we are having this with sweetcorn fritters and a green salad.

chicken wings

it’s friday night, my brother-in-law is arriving for a week long visit, yet simple and easy it’s gotta be. so chicken wings it is.

place the chicken wings side by side on an oven tray, sprinkle with olive oil and season generously with nando’s lemon and herb spice. this is a sa spice in a grinder, made up of course salt, pepper corns, onion and garlic flakes, chili and lemon oil amongst other green things. use whichever seasoning you like.

bake in the oven at 180ºC for 30 minutes, turn, season the other side and continue baking for another 20 minutes. now you should have yummy crispy chicken wings.

with it i’ll make tortillas…
i use ready-made tortillas and a ready-made red pepper pesto. spread pesto on ½ the tortilla and cover with thin slices of cheddar cheese. fold the tortilla in half and then into quarter. heat a frying pan. lightly butter the tortilla and fry on medium heat until golden. lightly butter the other side and turn over. the cheese should be nicely melted now. watch them! it goes quickly.

...a green salad

grub’s up!

i work on 4 chicken wings per person

chicken kebabs

chicken kebabs
8 deboned chicken breast, cut into chunky pieces
500g button mushrooms, stalks removed
250g streaky bacon, halved
1 tin pineapple pieces, drained (reserve the juice)

8 kebabs sticks, soak them in water for about an hour to prevent them from burning when cooking.

thread the kebabs: chicken, mushroom, bacon, pineapple, or whichever way you choose…

make a marinade with:
1 cup tomato sauce
½ cup chutney
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
a good dash of worstershire sauce
some of the reserved pineapple juice
mix well and paint on the kebabs

grill for about 10 minutes, before turning and painting the kebabs with the marinade. you need to watch them carefully and turn them before the marinade starts to burn. paint with the remaining marinade each time.

served with...
flatbread with a cheddar cheese and onion topping
salad of tomatoes, onion, peppers, cucumber and rocket leaves with a berry olive oil and balsamic vinegar dressing

enough for: 4
i work on 1 chicken breast per kebab, and 2 kebabs per person is usually sufficient.