Baked Fusilli with Chicken

If you love baked food, you will love this mess-free recipe that is a crowd pleaser. The only way I can describe it: hearty, family friendly and packed with a lot of flavors.  Comfort food at its best. This recipe can be prepared a day or two in advance. You only need to top it with cheese and put it in the oven until bubbly and golden brown.

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts, cut into small bite size pieces
• 1 small onion, very finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• ½ red bell pepper, chopped into small bite size pieces
• ½ green bell pepper, chopped into small bite size pieces
• 5 plum tomatoes, peeled and blended; or 2 cans of ready-to-use tomatoes
• 2 ½ cups cooking cream, at room temperature
• More or less 300 gr of shredded cheese: a mix of mozzarella, gruyere and fondel or any combination you like
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon of dried oregano
• 1 pack of fusilli
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste

Method

• In a medium sized pan heat some olive oil and cook chicken until just cooked. Remove from pan and set aside.
• In the same pan add some more olive oil if needed and gently fry onion and garlic until fragrant. Add bell peppers and sauté.
• After about 5 mins add the chicken to the veggies, season with salt, pepper, and the oregano and mix well.
• At this point add the fresh tomatoes and tomato paste. Mix well. Bring to a boil and let the sauce simmer for 20 mins. Taste and adjust seasoning.
• In the meantime bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the fusilli half the time suggested on the packet. Drain. Return to the pot and on gentle heat add the cooking cream until just heated. Turn off the heat and 2 handfuls of the cheese mixture. Mix well.
• Spread half the fusilli mix in the bottom of an over proof dish of your choice. Pour the sauce and finish with the rest of the fusilli. Top with more cheese and place in a pre-heated oven (220°C) until bubbly and a nice golden crust forms on top.
• Let rest 10 mins before serving.