Chicken & Pumpkin Pasta Bake

While I am a fan of complicated recipes that take hours to replicate and use rare and unusual ingredients, sometimes I crave simplicity. I occasionally get sick of all the rich food and lack of kitchen space, and instead make something that's big on flavour with a minimum amount of ingredients (and a minimum amount of dishes to wash later). I wasn't going to post this recipe when I first added it to my dinner roster, because I didn't think it was worthy, but that completely changed when I tried it for the first time: the sweet, moreish flavour of the pumpkin was tempered by the zingy burst of wholegrain mustard, which in turn is soothed by the ricotta cheese and creamy pasta. It's become a favourite, which is why I'm sharing it here.

Chicken & Pumpkin Pasta Bake
*Adapted from the Masterchef website

INGREDIENTS

500g butternut pumpkin
500g sweet potato
3 cups cooked pasta (we used penne and spiral)
300mL light thickened cream
1 heaped tablespoon wholegrain mustard
2 cups shredded pre-cooked chicken
150g smooth ricotta

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Peel the pumpkin and sweet potato, and cut into 2 cm pieces. Place pumpkin on a tray lined with baking paper, sprinkle lightly with olive oil, and bake for 25 minutes or until tender.

2. Add the cooked pasta, chicken, mustard, cream, and pumpkin to a casserole dish and mix until incorporated. Crumble with ricotta, then season with salt and pepper.

3. Place the dish under a preheated grill, and leave to grill for 5 - 10 minutes or until top is golden.

Serves 4 - 6.

Comments

[Dolly]

yum.. this is such an easy recipe..

def. doing this when theres a pumpkin special ;P

i love roasted pumpkin.. so nice and healthy.

[Akika]

I absolutely adore pumpkin! But my bf's house doesn't have an oven so we can't bake anything :( I'm so sad...one of the reasons I want to move back home permanently :P

[Carolyn Jung]

I can't believe summer is nearing an end and fall is just around the corner. At least I have comforting pumpkin dishes like this to look forward to, though. ;)

[briarrose]

Now this is just a cool use for pumpkin and sweet potato. Lovely dish.

[InTolerantChef]

There's nothing wrong with something a bit simpler, especially when it looks this yummy!

[Sara (Belly Rumbles)]

I crave simplicity for weeknight dinner, even on weekends when busy. Glad you shared this one with us :)