I was caught on the hop the other night. We were supposed to be going out and our plans fell through so I had to pull together a meal from what I had in. The result was amazing. In the past I have made off the cuff meals from scratch. I suppose it is a bit like the invention test in Masterchef. We have had some great meals but I would not write down what I did so they were always a one-off, much to my husbands dismay. This was one of the reasons my grandson, Danny, talked me into doing a blog. Well, this is my latest attempt at an invention test. Hope you like it.
Chicken and courgettes with Spaghetti Serves 4
- Spray olive oil or Frylight
- 3 rashers of lean bacon, all fat removed, sliced
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 clove garlic, chopped
- 1 courgette, halved lengthways and then sliced
- About 150g/6 oz leftover roast chicken, cut into bite sized pieces (or 1 chicken breast simmered in chicken stock until cooked the cut up as before)
- 1 large, ripe tomato, roughly chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 300g spaghetti
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan then fry the bacon over a high heat for a couple of minutes until changing colour.
- Turn down the heat to low – medium and add the onion and garlic. Mix well and sauté for about 10 minutes until the onion is soft but not coloured.
- Add the courgettes, mix well and cook for 3 minutes.
- Add the chicken and cook for 4 minutes then add the tomatoes. Season to taste then mix well. Cook for about 5 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down, the chicken is cooked through and the courgettes are tender.
- In the meantime, cook the spaghetti as per packet instructions.
- Add a couple of tbsp of the spaghetti cooking water to the chicken mix to make a little sauce.
- When the spaghetti is cooked, drain and add to the chicken. Toss so the spaghetti is coated with the sauce then serve immediately.
Tasty Advice 