Chicken Cannelloni

Nice hearty dish-full of fat,protein and starch!

Ingredients

• You can adjust the amounts as you like-just taste as you go along-this isn’t baking a cake or a chemistry lab session! I made 4 servings but i finished it over a late dinner and a heavy breakfast!
• passata (or ready made tomato sauce) 500g
• garlic (1 clove) or oregano (or other herb) optional
• golden syrup (to sweeten the strong, slightly sour tomato sauce) optional
• salt (add to taste-but be aware too much salt can cause weight gain by water retention and cause high blood pressure!)
• chicken (breast is best!) 250g-start from chilled
• 500g of cannelloni pasta
• cheese sauce : 100g marg/butter ,60g flour , 100g of cheese-shredded or grated ( add more if you like the flavour of your cheese) and 100ml of cold milk (add some cream-double,whipped or creme fraiche to make the sauce richer and creamier)

Instructions

STEP 1:

Partially cook chicken till it’s not pink (err on the side of caution as undercooked chicken is bad,but bear in mind it will recieve some more heat later on).Then grind or shred into small peices.

STEP 2:

STEP 3:

add 1 clove of garlic to 500g of passata (remember to remove skin first, similar to onions) .Use a blender/food processor to get a smooth sauce. Heat and reduce to desired consistency. Then season to tatse using golden syrup and/or salt or pepper or even cheese and herbs. Combine chicken pieces with the sauce.

STEP 4:

STEP 5:

cheese sauce: use a low heat! Melt butter/marg. When it’s bubbling quickly add flour quickly and stir to avoid boiling and release the starch(this will stop the cheese clumping!). Add cold milk to the ‘roux’ (flour and butter mixture). Add cream if desired. Add grated/shredded cheese slowly( if you add to much cheese or too big lumps of cheese -you could end up with lumpy cheese sauce!). Also add cheese last so as the more you heat the cheese the more likely it is to clump giving a lumpy sauce.

STEP 6:

STEP 7:

fill cannelloni pasta with chicken mixture. Line base of baking/casserole dish with a little tomato sauce. Place filled canneloni base in tray. Cover the canneloni pasta throughly with cheese sauce-the sauce will stop the pasta from burning and keep it moist(similar to boiling pasta!)

STEP 8:

STEP 9:

bake for 45 mins -till pasta is soft and cooked and chicken is fully cooked at 160 degrees( 140 for fan oven). Check regularly