2/3 cup  Butter; divided
1/2 cup  Diced carrots
1/2 cup  Diced celery
1/4 cup  Diced onion
2 Whole chicken breasts (fresh or dried), divided (about 450g) cut into strips
110g Diced fresh mushrooms
1 can Condensed cream of chicken soup, (285g)
1 cup  Milk
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Pepper
1 tb Parsley
3 cup  Rotini
1 cup  Fresh bread crumbs
1/2 cup  Silvered almonds; for garnish

Method:

In 1/3 cup butter lightly saute carrots, celery and onions. Add chicken strips and mushrooms; cook until tender. Add the chicken soup, milk, salt and pepper, 1 teaspoon parsley and the cooked rotini.

Place in 2-quart buttered casserole. Mix 1/3 cup butter (melted), bread crumbs and the remaining 2 teaspoons parsley; spread evenly over casserole. Garnish with almonds.

Bake in 175 degrees Celsius oven for 30 minutes.

1/4 cup  Olive oil
4 Skinless boneless chicken -breast halves, cut into 1/2  strips
225g Mushrooms; sliced
1 medium Onion; chopped
2 Garlic cloves; minced
1 Jar (450g) marinara sauce
1 cup  Mozzarella cheese; shredded
1/4 cup  Parmesan cheese; grated
2 tb Parsley; chopped
1 Box (450g) spaghetti

Method:

In a wok, heat 2 tablespoons oil over high heat until hot, swirling to coat sides of pan. Add chicken strips and stir-fry until cooked through, but still juicy, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove to a plate.

In same wok, heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil over high heat. Add mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Stir-fry until mushrooms are lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Return chicken to wok.

Pour in marinara sauce. Cook until heated through, about 3 minutes. Add mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Sprinkle parsley on top. Cover and cook until mozzarella melts, 1 to 2 minutes.

Serve over bed of cooked spaghetti/pasta.

3/4 cup  Thinly sliced celery
1/2 cup  Thinly sliced carrots
1/2 cup  Sliced fresh mushrooms
1 small Onion; chopped
1 Whole clove garlic; minced
1 can Tomato sauce; 225g
1 can Tomatoes; 225g cut up
1 tsp Italian seasoning (a mix of dried basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage, marjoram)
3 Whole medium chicken -breasts, skinned, boned and -halved lengthwise
1/2 cup  Cottage cheese
3 tb Grated Parmesan cheese
1 tb Sliced spring onion
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
2 oz Mozzarella cheeseMethod:

For sauce, in a medium saucepan, cook celery, carrots, mushrooms, onion and garlic in 1 tablespoon water until onion is tender. Stir in tomato sauce, undrained tomatoes, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning. Bring to
boiling; reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, until reduced to 1 1/4 cups, about 30 minutes.

Pound chicken breasts between 2 pieces of clear plastic wrap to 1/4 inch thickness. Combine cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, spring onion, 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning and dash of pepper.

Place about 1 1/2 tablespoons of cheese mixture on each chicken piece. Roll up. Place, seam side down, in a baking dish, 8 x 8 x 2-inches. Pour sauce over rolls. Cover with foil and freeze.

To serve, bake frozen, covered, in a 190 degrees Celsius oven for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 15 to 20 minutes more or until tender. Cut cheese into strips and place atop rolls; bake 3 to 5 minutes more.

Ingredients:

450g Penne pasta; cooked and cooled
2 cups shredded cooked Chicken
1 1/2 cup Milk
170g Goat cheese
230g Feta; crumbled
1/2 cup  Sliced pitted kalamata or black olives
1/4 cup  Fresh chopped basil leaves;
2 Cloves fresh garlic; minced
1 cup  Parmesan cheese; divided
Ground black pepper; to -taste

Method:

Cook pasta in large pot of salted, boiling water until al dente. Drain and cool with cold running water. Return pasta to cooking pot.

Heat milk in small saucepan until warm – do not boil – and add the goat cheese in chunks, stirring to melt, until smooth. Leave to cool.

To cooled pasta, add the cooled goat cheese sauce, crumbled feta, shredded chicken, garlic, olives, basil and half of the parmesan cheese. Add black pepper to taste.

Stir to mix. Pour into oiled 9×13 baking dish, or individual gratin dishes.  Sprinkle remaining parmesan cheese over top. Bake at 170 degrees Celsius for 30 to 40 minutes, until bubbly and brown on top.

Starting with Tortellini from the refrigerated food section of your grocery store makes preparing this salad extra easy.  The parsley sauce makes this salad absolutely delicious.  Quite different too.

Ingredients:

1 cup  Parsley sprigs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cup creamed cottage cheese
1 tb Lemon juice
1 tb Milk
1/2 tsp Dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Pepper
4 drops Red pepper sauce
2 Cloves garlic, crushed
250g fresh cheese filled Tortellini
1 cup  Cut-up cooked chicken

Method:

Place all ingredients except Tortellini and chicken in blender. Cover and blend on high speed about 3 minutes, stopping blender occasionally to scrape sides, until smooth. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours but no longer than 24 hours.

Cook the Tortellini as directed on package; drain. Toss with green sauce and chicken.

Ingredients:

Sauce:
565g Minced chicken
1/4 cup Olive oil; pure
1 1/3 cup Onions; coarsley chopped
1 tb Oregano; heaping
1 1/2 tsp Garlic; finely minced
1 1/2 tsp Basil
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Black pepper
1/4 tsp Red pepper flakes
1 cup  Dry white wine; (plus 3 Tablespoons)
3 1/4 cup  Tomatoes; crushed in puree
150g Frozen spinach; thawed, -squeeze dry of all liquid

Cheese:
3 cups  Mozzarella cheese; grated
1/2 cup  Feta cheese; crumbled

Bechamel:
1 1/2 cup  Milk
1 cup  Cream
1  pinch white pepper
1  pinch thyme
1  pinch nutmeg
1  pinch basil
3 tb Butter
1/3 cup  Flour, plus 1 tb Flour
1/3 cup  Parmesan cheese; grated, plus 1 tb
3 tb Romano cheese; grated
Uncooked fresh lasagne – layers in a 9-inch by 13-inch pan
1/4 cup  Unseasoned bread crumbs
2 tb Parmesan cheese; freshly -grated
1 tsp Parsley; very finely chopped
Several things set this version apart from the dozens of other lasagne recipes. Its sauce is strongly seasoned with oregano. It calls for a thick filling of bechamel instead of ricotta cheese. It uses feta cheese to step up the flavor of the
dish. And it takes advantage of fresh lasagne, which can go into the dish with no precooking.

PREPARE-AHEAD/SERVING NOTES:
Make a day ahead and bake when needed, or do as we do and freeze. Take the lasagne straight from the freezer to the oven and adjust the cooking time accordingly.

CAUTION:
Be sure to let the lasagne sit 20 minutes before serving.

ESSENTIAL GEAR:
Shallow baking pan (9 x 13 inches / 22 x 33 cm)

To make sauce, cook chicken mince in a saute pan over medium heat until pink is gone and meat is crumbly. Remove from heat and pour chicken through a colander to drain off all fat. Reserve chicken. (Be certain it is well-crumbled. If it is not, break it up using a potato masher or large wooden spoon.)

In the same saucepan, heat olive oil and add onions, oregano, garlic, basil, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook over medium heat until onions are translucent. Add wine, bring to a boil, and cook until alcohol has evaporated – about 10 minutes. Stir in tomatoes. Add spinach and reserved chicken. Continue simmering for a few minutes. Remove from heat and reserve. Mix together mozzarella and feta cheeses and set aside.

To make bechamel, heat milk, cream, white pepper, thyme, nutmeg, and basil in a small saucepan until it nears a boil. Turn off heat. Melt butter in a medium-size saute pan. When foam from butter recedes, remove from heat, add
flour, and mix well. Return to medium-low heat and, stirring frequently, simmer for 2 to 3 minutes to cook, but not brown, the flour. Gradually stir in hot milk and cream mixture. Raise heat to medium-high and continue stinnng until mixture is smooth and thick–about 5 minutes. Add Parmesan and Romano cheeses and whisk until smooth. This should be the texture of wallpaper paste, not of the white sauce more often associated with bechamel.

To make topping, mix together bread crumbs, Parmesan, and parsley. Reserve.

TO ASSEMBLE AND BAKE:
Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius.  Spread 2 tablespoons of the tomato juices left in the can of tomatoes on the bottom of a shallow baking dish. Lay in one layer of the uncooked lasagne noodles.

Spoon on 3 cups of the meat sauce. Spread 1 cup of bechamel across the sauce in two diagonals (no need to spread evenly at this point). Top with 2 cups of cheese mixture. Lay on another layer of lasagne noodles and repeat,
using the same amounts of sauce (be sure to get every dab of the meat sauce ~ there is no extra to spare), bechamel, and cheese. Top with last layer of noodles, and with fingertips, press lightly to distribute bechamel smoothly
in the layers. Using a long metal spatula, “frost” top layer of noodles with remaining bechamel. Be sure to completely cover noodles so that they do not dry out in baking. Sprinkle evenly with reserved bread crumb mixture.

Bake lasagne at 200 degrees Celsius for about 60 minutes or until sauce bubbles around the edge and top is nicely browned. If top browns too quickly, cover with aluminum during last 10 minutes of cooking. If baking the lasagne straight from the freezer, add about 20 minutes to cooking time.  Once out of the oven, let lasagne set up for about 20 minutes before serving. (This is critical for ease of serving.)

Serves: 4 people

Ingredients:

2 medium Eggplants – Cut into 2cm cubes
Salt
1/4 cup  Hoisin sauce
1/4 cup  Water
1/4 cup  Fresh lemon juice
340 g Dry penne pasta
2 tsp Sesame oil
2 tb Vegetable oil
4  Cloves garlic; minced
Freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Put eggplant cubes into colander and toss with 2 teaspoons salt and set aside. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

In small bowl, mix hoisin sauce, water and lemon juice and set aside.

When water boils, add pasta and 2 teaspoons salt, stirring to prevent pasta from sticking. Cook, stirring occasionally, until pasta is al dente, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in large nonstick skillet, heat sesame and vegetable oils over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring often, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add eggplant in batches, squeezing our as much water as possible.

Cook, stirring often, 5 minutes. Add hoisin mixture and stir well. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until eggplant is tender, about 10 minutes.

Drain pasta and transfer to large bowl. Add eggplant mixture and toss to mix. Season with salt and pepper.

I make a dish with the large pasta spirals, shredded smoked chicken, lashings of grated parmesan, quite a lot of fresh lemon juice, splash of olive oil, freshly cooked baby french beans, seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper, (no measurements just go by taste) then I cook some stale foccacia bread broken up into large crumbs in olive oil and sprinkle on top – yum!

Janette also recommends…

I make a smoked chicken pasta dish with spinach, basil, pine nuts and cream sauce.  It’s very, very nice, but the three veg man won’t eat it though.

There are a few options available as an alternative to using cream in Chicken Fettuccine including:

• a can of evaporated milk
• a can of thick chicken soup
• a cup of milk with cornflour and a bit of butter

I always use lite Evaporated milk and no thickner and it turns out great.  Your Chicken Fettuccine will not be too rich as it is with cream (although I do like cream!).

Pasta Ingredients:

220 ml water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups plain flour
1 cup semolina

Filling Ingredients:

150g chicken mince
1 teaspoon freshly minced garlic
1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh coriander
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. Mix all the pasta dough ingredients in a bowl until you create a homogeneous consistency.
2. Divide pasta dough into two equal portions.  Roll out each portion to a square approximately 30cm x 30cm.
3. Place filling ingredients in a mixing bowl, mix well to combine.
4. Place teaspoons of filling 5cm apart over one of the pasta squares.  Brush edges and between filling lightly with water and top with remaining pasta square.  Press firmly between fillings and along edges and cut into squares using a pastry wheel.  Sprinkle ravioli with a little flour.
5. Cook ravioli in boiling water (several at a time) in a large saucepan for 5 minutes, or until just tender.  Drain well, then serve with your favourite pasta sauce.