Macaroni Chicken & Cheese (with hidden vegetables!)

This recipe is perfect for the upcoming cooler months. When you want more of that comfort food, or for when you want something that you can just pop in the oven at the end of a busy day that's tasty, but still full of all the good stuff you need. I like to have a bit of chicken for protein (aka extra fullness feeling) and for the little people, it's great to be able to sneak in some veggies. Peeling the zucchini (courgette) first means the colour of the dish is still cheesy and the pumpkin adds creaminess and a bit more of an earthy flavour.

Ingredients (Serves 6-8 people):

• 500g macaroni or other dried pasta shapes
• 600g chicken breast - two large breasts is about enough 
• 1 tbsp dried thyme 
• 2 tsp white wine vinegar - lemon juice would also work
• Olive oil
• 1.5 cup diced pumpkin 
• 2 or 3 zucchini peeled and roughly chopped 
• 50g butter
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 3 tbsp flour
• 1.5 cups milk 
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground nutmeg - freshly grated nutmeg has the best flavour if you can get your hands on whole nutmeg. 
• 2 cups grated cheese (cheddar, colby, mild, parmesan or a combination - obviously the type of cheese you use will affect how cheesy the flavour is, so I tend to stick to cheddar/mild for toddlers) 
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Boil the pasta in a large pot of salted water according to the packet directions. Drain and toss through a few glugs of olive oil. 

In a small saucepan boil cubed pumpkin and zucchini for 10 minutes till tender. Drain & puree with a stick blender, food processor, or just mash. Set aside. 

Slice chicken breast lengthways through the middle so you have two flatter fillets. Heat another tablespoon of oil in a frying pan and fry each fillet for 4-6 minutes each side till lightly browned. Set aside and allow to cool. Add thyme, white wine vinegar and a splash of water to the pan and stir to remove all the tasty juices from the bottom of the pan. Add this chicken thyme juice to the pureed veggies. 

Finally make the sauce. Melt the butter and garlic over a medium heat. Once bubbling, add the flour and stir. It will be a little foamy. Gradually add the milk, stirring well after each addition to make sure you don't get any lumps. Continue stirring and once thickened take off the heat and add half of the grated cheese. Stir till you have a smooth sauce. Add the nutmeg and pureed veggies. Stir and season to taste. 

Roughly chop the chicken and combine with the sauce and cooked pasta. Spoon everything into a large baking dish (or two smaller ones if you want to freeze half). Top with remaining cheese and then breadcrumbs. Can be chilled for 24hrs, or frozen for up to 4 months at this point. 

Preheat oven to 180*C. 

Bake for 30 - 40 mins till heated through and lightly golden on top. 

Serve with a green salad, or steamed veggies and crusty bread. 

Chicken Broccoli and Quinoa Balls

Chicken and Broccoli Bites or Broccoli and Cheese Bites have been trending on food blogs for a while now, and I have been wanting to try them for a while. 

Mr 11 months dinner platter.
The chicken broccoli and quinoa
balls were demolished!

However my 'fussy eater' is weird about meat (unless it's pulverised into a puree, masked with pumpkin or kumara), and is not a big fan of cheese. He'll eat his ham and cheese sammies okay, but won't eat cheese on it's own, and didn't seem too pleased with the cheese and veggie fritters that I made (but he loves my Lasagne and Tuna Pasta Bake, go figure?). Regardless, I was hesitant to try something, which was too 'meaty' or 'cheesy', but I am wanting to introduce more finger food, so I came up with these tasty morsels: Which he devoured, and completely ignored everything else which was on his plate. Luckily these are basically a complete meal in one, so he can just eat these for the rest of his life for all I care and I know he'll be getting a balanced diet. 

Best of all, they're a hit with adults as well as children! Little ones can enjoy them plain or with a little tomato sauce, and for adults, add a teaspoon of chilli sauce to the tomato sauce for a flavour kick. Alternatively, you could serve them with spaghetti and a tomato sauce. 

Ingredients (makes 40 balls): 

• 1 onion, roughly chopped
• 2 1/2 cups of roughly chopped broccoli (florets and stalk - just remove the skin of the stalk) 
• 400 grams skinless boneless free range chicken 
• 100 grams haloumi cheese 
• 1 cup cooked quinoa (1/2 cup dried + 1 cup water, simmer for 10-15 mins) 
• 3 eggs
• 1 tbsp dried thyme 
• 1 tsp paprika 

Preheat your oven to 160 degrees Celsius, and line two baking trays with grease proof paper. 

Combine all ingredients in a food processor (depending on the size of your food processor, you may need to do a few ingredients at a time, then finish up the mixing in a large bowl. 

Using wet hands, shape ping-pong sized balls of the mixture and drop them onto the lined trays. 

Bake for 25 minutes, swapping the trays around halfway to ensure even cooking. 

Cool and serve: with a tomato sauce (chilli optional), or with spaghetti and a cooked tomato sauce. 

Tuna Pasta Bake

If you liked my Cheat's Lasagne Recipe from a last month then you'll love this variation. I used to spend hours coming up with elaborate meals to prepare, but these days with a young baby I don't have enough to time to prepare, let alone think of such creative meals as I used to. Well not regularly anyway. 

This pasta bake is great in that I can throw this in the slow cooker in the morning (while the little one naps) and then it's ready to serve in the evening. Perfect for if we have a busy afternoon ahead. It's so easy and pretty darn tasty too. The leftovers keep us going for a couple of days and best of all, even the baby likes it!

Ingredients:

• 2 x 185 gram tins of tuna in spring water
• 1 x 400 gram can of creamed corn
• 1 cup of vegetable stock
• 2 stalks of celery, roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, roughly chopped
• 1 onion, roughly, chopped
• salt and pepper
• 300 grams dried pasta 
• 1 & 1/2 cups of grated cheese
• 1 & 1/2 cups of milk
• 2 eggs

Oil the bowl of the slow cooker, and turn on to high setting to preheat. 

In a food processor mix the tuna (including liquid), creamed corn, stock, celery, carrots, onion, and salt and pepper till well combined. 

Spread 1/4 of the mix in the bottom of the slow cooker dish. Cover with half of the dried pasta, then another 1/4 of the mix over that. Sprinkle with half of the cheese, before layering the remaining pasta, then the rest of the tuna mix on top. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. 

In the same food processor (don't bother cleaning it in between) combine the eggs and milk, then pour this over the top of the cheese. Put the lid on the slow cooker and reduce the temperature to low. Cook for 5-6 hours, before slicing and serving.