Cooking weeknight dinners can be stressful, and there is no shame in throwing a ready meal in the oven, but making something homemade can be very simple if you use the right recipe. Sarah Rossi, a cook and founder of Taming Twins, has an “ultra convenient” chicken pasta bake that only takes 30 minutes to cook.

She said: “This easy chicken and bacon pasta cake is an absolute midweek winner that the whole family will love. Packed with veggies with a delicious creamy sauce, it’s topped with cheese for extra crunch and flavour.” Pasta bakes are an easy way to make something cheesy, creamy and comforting that still has lots of vegetables, but the key to making this dish properly is to boil the pasta before cooking it.

Many people add dry pasta to their bakes so it cooks in the oven, but it will take much longer and will not be able to cook evenly.

This will result in hard, chewy pasta throughout the dish and also cause the cheese topping to burn.

Take 10 minutes to boil the pasta while you are preparing the other ingredients, make sure it is properly cooked so it is soft enough to absorb flavour from the sauce as it bakes.

Sarah said, “I tend to do this with most of my pasta bake recipes because it just works better. I’ve tried it both ways, and cooking the pasta first always has the best results, and as it takes such little time to cook, this step is always worth it for me.”

How to make midweek chicken bake pasta

Ingredients (for four people)

  • 300g of chicken breast chunks (two large chicken breasts)
  • 200g of bacon (chopped into pieces)
  • 300g of pasta (use any type you wish)
  • 300g of broccoli (chopped into pieces)
  • 500ml of milk
  • 150g of mozzarella and cheddar cheese
  • Three cloves of garlic (crushed)
  • One large onion (chopped into pieces)
  • Two tablespoons of plain flour
  • Salt and pepper
  • One teaspoon of wholegrain mustard (optional)
  • One teaspoon of olive oil

Instructions

To begin, place the pasta in a pot of boiling salted water and let it cook for five minutes.

While the pasta is bubbling away, place a teaspoon of olive oil in a large frying pan. Chop the bacon into pieces, then cook for five minutes until crispy and golden.

When five minutes have passed, add the broccoli to the pasta and cook for a further five minutes until both are properly cooked. Then, simply drain and set aside.

Add the chicken to the bacon to the bacon and cook for five minutes until it has colour all over.

Chop up the onions and garlic, then add them to the frying pan. Cook for 10 minutes until the vegetables have softened and the chicken is fully cooked through.

Add the tablespoon of flour to the pan and cook for two minutes while stirring so everything is fully coated. Pour in the milk, add half the cheese to the pan, then season with salt, pepper and mustard (if using).

Preheat the oven to 180C. First, add the cooked pasta and broccoli to a baking dish, and then add the sauce and meat from the frying pan. Sprinkle the other half of the cheese on top.

Place in the oven and cook for roughly 10 minutes until the top of the bake is golden brown and bubbling.

Your delicious pasta bake will then be ready to serve. This is an easy family meal to make on a weekday, but you can switch up any of the ingredients depending on preference.

Sarah said: “If you want to mix this up, try using meatballs, sausage, ham or chorizo instead of the chicken and bacon.

“Alternatively, if you ‘d like to make this a vegetarian dish, just omit the meat completely and add extra vegetables.”