Chicken Bennelong

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 350g dried spaghetti pasta
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1 brown onion, coarsely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 celery stick, trimmed, thinly sliced
• 1 small green capsicum, halved, seeded, coarsely chopped
• 125g mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 125g salami, cut into 1cm pieces
• 60g butter
• 50g (1/3 cup) plain flour
• 310ml (1 1/4 cups) chicken stock
• 250g can diced tomatoes
• 2 tbs salt-reduced tomato paste
• 2 tbs pouring cream
• 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
• Olive oil, to grease
• 125g coarsely grated cheddar
• 1 Woolworths Country Style Roast Chicken, skin and bones removed, meat shredded

Method

1. Cook pasta in a saucepan of boiling water following packet directions. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, heat 3 teaspoons of oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Cook the onion, garlic, celery, capsicum and mushroom for 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. Heat remaining oil in pan. Cook salami for 3 minutes. Add to the bowl.
3. Melt butter in pan over medium-high heat. Stir in flour. Cook for 1 minute. Add stock, tomato, tomato paste and cream. Stir for 3 minutes or until thick. Add onion mixture and thyme. Reduce heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease a 3L (12-cup) capacity baking dish with oil. Place one-third of the pasta in the dish. Top with one-quarter of the cheddar, one-third of chicken and one-third of sauce. Continue layering with remaining pasta, cheddar, chicken and sauce, finishing with cheddar. Bake for 30 minutes or until cheddar melts.