Spaghetti tetrazzini

From Jamie’s Italy
Serves 6
Ingredients

20 g dried porcini mushrooms
olive oil
4 higher-welfare chicken thighs, boned, skinned and cut into bite-sized pieces
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
350 g mixed fresh mushrooms, cleaned and torn
200 ml white wine
320 g dried spaghetti
300 ml single cream
150 g Parmesan cheese, grated
1 sprig of fresh basil, leaves picked

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/gas 6. Put your porcini mushrooms in a bowl and pour over just enough boiling water to cover them (approx. 150ml/5½fl oz). Put to one side to soak for a few minutes. Heat a saucepan big enough to hold all the ingredients, and pour in a splash of olive oil. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper and brown them gently in the oil. Strain the porcini, reserving the soaking water, and add them to the pan with the garlic and fresh mushrooms. Add the wine, with the strained porcini soaking water, and turn the heat down. Simmer gently until the chicken pieces are cooked through and the wine has reduced a little.

Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions and drain well. Add the cream to the pan of chicken, then bring to the boil and turn the heat off. Season well with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add the drained spaghetti to the creamy chicken sauce and toss well. Add three-quarters of the Parmesan and all of the basil and stir well. Transfer to an ovenproof baking dish or non-stick pan, sprinkle with half the remaining cheese and bake in the oven until golden brown, bubbling and crisp. Divide between your plates, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese before serving.

After one month of spending weekends in the office, and not having much energy left to do proper cooking, things have quietened down a bit (fingers crossed) and I have managed to get myself back into my cooking routine. What better way to do that than a simple pasta bake.

Recipe uses chicken but I had turkey from Tesco and so I decided to use that instead. If I am not wrong, the tacky version of this uses turkey!

Pasta and turkey in cheese sauce

Taken from Chicken – the best ever recipe collection
Ingredients

75g butter
350g turkey breast fillet, cut into thin strips
2 pieces of bottled roasted pepper
175g spaghetti
900ml hot milk
115 grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp mustard powder

Melt about a third of the butter in a saucepan, add the turkey and sprinkle with a little salt and plenty of pepper. Toss the turkey over a medium heat for about 5 minutes until the meat turns white, then add the roasted pepper strips and toss to mix. Remove from the pan using a slotted spoon and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, add the pasta and cook until al dente.

Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter over low heat in the pan in which the turkey was cooked. Sprinkle in the flour and cook, stirring for 1-2 minutes. Increase the heat to medium.

Add the milk a little at a time, whisking vigorously. Bring to the boil and cook, stirring until the sauce is smooth. Add two thirds of the grated parmesan, then whisk in mustard salt and pepper to taste. Remove from the heat.

Drain the pasta and return it to the clean pan. Mix in half the cheese sauce then spoon the mixture around the edge of an oven proof dish. Stir the turkey mixture into the remaining cheese sauce and spoon into the dish.

Sprinkle the remaining parmesan over the top and bake for 15-20 minutes until the topping is just crisp.

The roasted peppers is key to this dish. Turkey on its own is bland, and the taste of the cheese requires something to complement it and that’s the roasted peppers. And don’t bother if you don’t have any parmesan available, cheddar will do just as well. Any pasta will do too so you don’t have to use spaghetti; as you can see I didn’t use it.

Creamy turkey and tomato pasta

Ingredients

450g turkey breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
550g cherry tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
4 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 tbsp freshly chopped basil
200ml tub creme fraiche
Parmesan cheese to serve

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in large frying pan. Add the turkey and cook for 5 minutes, or until sealed, turning occasionally.

Transfer to a roasting tin and add the remaining olive oil, the vine tomatoes, garlic and balsamic vinegar. Stir well and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the turkey is tender, turning the tomatoes and turkey once.

Stir the basil into the creme fraiche. Season with salt and pepper.

Remove the roasting tin from the oven. Stir the creme fraiche basil mixture into the turkey and tomato mixture and return to the oven for 1-2 minutes, or until thoroughly heated through.

Stir the turkey and tomato mixture into the pasta and toss lightly together. Tip into a warmed serving dish. Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese

Turkey breast is cheap in the UK; it’s cheaper than chicken breasts. I used to buy it in bulk and stir fry it with Lee Kum Kee sauces. If you can’t find turkey, chicken (fillet) is a decent substitute.