This dish was a hit at the PWK house. Pumpkin is very popular with the kids. I think it is its sweetness that wins them over!
This dish makes a lot and even for our family we had plenty of left overs. Think about halving the quantities if you only have 1 or 2 kids.
Chicken Pasta Bake
Ingredients:
- 1kg butternut pumpkin
- 750 grams penne pasta
- 450 mls thickened cream
- 500 grams chicken breast
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 50 grams baby spinach
- 50 grams parmesan cheese grated
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius.
2. Set up baking tray with baking paper.
3. Cube pumpkin into small pieces.
4. Add pumpkin to the trays and then brush with olive oil and salt to taste.
5. Bake in the oven for 35 to 40 minutes or until the pumpkin has turned golden and is tender. You don’t want the pumpkin to still be hard as it won’t really cook in the remaining steps any further.
6. While pumpkin is cooking, cut chicken into thin even sized pieces. Heat frying pan onto a medium heat and add oil.
7. Add chicken to the pan and fry for 4 -5 minutes each side until browned.
8. Allow chicken to cool for 5 – 10 miutes.
9. Use a fork to shred chicken and set aside.
10. Destem and roughly chop spinach.
11. Cook pasta as per packet instructions.
12. Heat grill on high.
13. Once pasta is cooked drain the pasta and return it to the pan.
14. Add cooked pumpkin to the pan.
15. Add spinach, cream and shredded chicken and gently mix. Add salt and pepper to taste.
16. Pour pasta into a lasagne dish.
17. I actually had even more left over, so used another small dish to hold the extra pasta mixture.
18. Sprinkle the grated parmesan onto the dishes.
19. Place under the grill for about 5 minutes or until the cheese turns golden.
20. Serve and enjoy!
Our Family Menu Plan For This Week.
Time for the new bunch of weekly plans for the next month!
You can download the four separately weekly plans and shopping lists here – PWK Monthly Menu Plan June/July.
Day Meal Type | Sat Quick | Sun Meat and Veg | Mon Bulk meal or double batch | Tue Left Overs | Wed Soup | Thu Veg | Fri Fun Night |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Week Starting: 17th June | Tacos Baking: PearMuffins | Sausages and Steamed Vegetables | Mexibake | Left Overs | Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup | Pumpkin and Spinach Curry | Sushi |
| Week Starting: 24th June | Baked Penne with Bacon Baking: Banana and Oat Muffins | Sweet Chilli Chicken Wraps | Fried Rice | Left Overs | Slow Cooker Tomato Soup | Roast Vegetable Lasagne | Pikelets |
| Week Starting: 1st july | Tuna Rice Baking: White Choc Chip Muffins | Chicken Schnitzel and Veg | Shepherd's Pie | Left Overs | Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup | Zucchini and Pasta Slice | Scrambled Eggs |
| Week Starting: 8th July | Tacos Baking: Rolled Oat Slice | Easy Roast Chicken With Stuffing | Pasties | Left Overs | New Recipe | Pumpkin Soup | Bacon and Egg tarts |
If you are looking for further recipe inspiration, check out my complete list of Family Friendly Recipes. You might like to also check out Planning With Kids Menu Planning App.
The kid friendly menu planning app allows you to:
- Create weekly menu plans quickly, choosing as many meals per day as you would like to plan for.
- Generate the shopping list for all the meals selected.
- Modify the shopping list to check off items you already have at home.
- Email the shopping list to yourself and/or others.
The most popular recipes from the blog have been included and more will be added on a weekly basis. The app will notify you when new recipes have been added, so you will be able to deliver plenty of variety in your family’s menu plans. Each recipe lists the ingredients required, easy to follow instructions and a photo from the blog.
How is your menu planning going?
4 comments...read them below or add one
Great recipe. I have a similar recipe that doesn’t use the cream (we’re not fans of cream at our place). I use a very simple white sauce instead.
A white sauce would be interesting – do you add some mustard or the like as well?
Can you tell me what a curry leaves are, as I have never heard of them and I have never ever known anyone to use them before. Also, where do I get them
Thanks,
Debbie
No Arguments Dinner at our house! And a great way to use up roast leftovers!
I used light cream – I never cook with cream either but thought I’d try it because when I substituted chicken instead of bacon and added pumpkin to the Mac n Cheese you did a few months ago it was gluggy and not well received!
The cream was much more popular and I will make it again this way – idiot proof!
I did use chicken stock powder instead of salt and pepper (I know lots of people prefer not to use it)
AND I didn’t have Parmesan but used up a small amount of feta & regular tasty
AND for a real treat (and nutrient boost) pine nuts just at the end after the cheese was already melted!
They even ate the spinach!
YUM YUM YUM Thank-you