quick dinner for 2: a variation on my mom’s famous chicken dish

27 Apr 2010 1 Comment

by admin in food and drink Tags: chicken, dinner for 2, pasta, south africa

One of my favourite dishes to eat when I visit my parents is my mom’s chicken dish. It’s a simple concept – chicken, pasta, mayo and cheese baked in the oven, with variations from day to day. And yesterday, thinking about a quick dinner that has South African connections ahead of Freedom Day, Chris ordered just that for dinner. Now I was sure whatever I concocted would not taste like my mom’s dish, not least because she doesn’t use a recipe and therefore the dish never tastes the same (although it is always delicious).

So I asked her the basics and then improvised, with amazing results. Unfortunately, being my mother’s daughter, I failed to measure or weight anything. However, while everything is still fresh in my memory, I’ll commit it to the blog so hopefully I can repeat the feat again in future (and maybe you guys try it and like it as well). This “recipe” served two very hungry adults and I reckon we’re going to have the leftovers for supper tonight (it’s delicious hot or cold)!

I used the leftover chicken from a roast on Sunday – it’s so easy if you have cooked chicken, but of course you could just use some chicken breasts chopped up and fried in the pan.

While cooking fusili pasta, fry a shallot with about 6 roughly chopped mushrooms in a bit of oil. Add poultry spice – I used this fabulous rub by Nomu . Add the cooked pasta, your chicken (it works well if the meat is torn into bite-sized chunks) and a small tin of sweet corn. Mix with a few generous scoops of mayo (it needs to be a moist affair but not saucy) and season. Mix well and top with cheddar cheese and broken up crisps (I used ridge-cut cheese and onion). Transfer to an ovenproof dish and bake in the oven at 180 degrees C for about 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and bubbly on top. Serve with a fresh garden salad.

For some more quick and easy chicken dinners for 2, click here and here.

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