Ah, the humble pasta bake. It’s cheap, it’s versatile and you can have it on the table in half an hour or less.
Pasta bake is great for using up leftovers like roast chicken or whatever frozen or tinned veg you have lurking in the pantry or freezer. Substitute the chicken for tinned tuna for a super cheap meal ready in no time.
For this chicken pesto version, you can start with just five ingredients. Then add in whatever vegetables you like.
Grill up your chicken so it’s lightly brown, then cook your pasta to al dente (it will go too squishy later if cooked fully).
Drain your pasta, then add the cooked chicken and vegetables of your choice into the pot.
Pour in your can of soup and stir everything together until everything is covered and looks terribly unappetising. Add in a good few dollops of pesto and a handful of cheese and stir.
Pour the mix into a pre-greased casserole dish and top with some more cheese.
Bake at about 180c for 15 minutes. Then enjoy the carb based goodness.
Chicken pesto pasta bake recipe
Ingredients
Two chicken breasts, cubed (or leftover, cooked roast chicken)
Pasta
Cream of asparagus soup (cream of mushroom, chicken or celery all work too)
Jar of pesto
Cheese
Vegetables of choice (frozen or tinned is fine)
Method
- Pre-heat oven to 180c
- Grill chicken until lightly brown
- Cook pasta until al dente
- Drain pasta, add chicken to pot along with any vegetables
- Pour in can of soup, stir
- Add a few dollops of pesto and cheese and stir
- Pour into a casserole dish, add cheese
- Bake at 180c for 15 minutes or until golden brown on top
