Chicken Alfredo Bake Recipe
An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott
Recipe Overview
Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 50 minutes
Serves: 8 people
Ingredients Needed
- 625g/1.4lbs cheese ravioli
- 40g/1.4oz butter
- 1 onion, peeled and diced (around 150g/5oz)
- 4 garlic cloves, peeled and diced
- 200g/7oz Swiss brown mushrooms, sliced
- 1/2 cup water
- 550ml/18fl oz thickened or double cream
- 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon or stock powder
- 200g/7oz mozzarella cheese, grated, divided in 3
- 100g/3.5oz parmesan cheese, grated, divided in 2
- 300g/10.6oz finely diced smoked chicken (1/2 inch dice)
- 180g/6oz sun dried tomato strips, drained of oil
- Salt and black pepper for seasoning
- Fresh parsley, chopped
Step-By-Step Instructions
Step 1 SAUTE Put a large pot of salted water onto boil and preheat oven to 180C/350F fan forced or 200C/400F conventional. Add butter to a large, deep saucepan on low medium heat and saute the onions for 5-6 minutes until soft and fragrant. Add the garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add the mushrooms plus 1/2 cup of water and cook until softened and the water has evaporated (around 5 minutes).
Step 2 BOIL - The water should now be at a boil so now cook the ravioli for 3 minutes (usually takes 4 minutes).
Step 3 CREAM - While the ravioli is cooking, add the cream and chicken powder to the onion and mushroom mix along with a third of the mozzarella and half of the parmesan cheese. Mix to form a creamy sauce. Add chicken and sun dried tomatoes. Finally, add the ravioli and stir to coat and simmer for 1 minute. Add 1 scoop of pasta cooking water to loosen a bit if needed (it should be creamy and not watery after adding). Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper to taste.
Step 4 BAKE - Using a 30x22x7cms/12x9x3 inch baking dish, add half of the pasta mixture. Top with a third of the mozzarella cheese. Add the remaining pasta and the remaining third of mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with remaining half of parmesan cheese and cover with a layer of parchment. Then cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Then remove the foil and place under the grill to brown the top. Sprinkle with parsley and sit for 10 minutes.
Personal Note
I brought this chicken alfredo bake to a family birthday picnic with my in laws last weekend. I cooked it that morning so that it was still warm in the tray and it was a bit chilly so it was nice to have something warm at a picnic. We had it at Sydney Park and everyone brought food along to share. Teddy and Milo Elliott were quite well behaved at the beginning. Even though they clearly wanted some they just positioned themselves by it but never lunged or went for some. It was more of a "I'm here if some happens to fall" sort of thing I think.
Mr NQN gave Teddy a piece of chicken which is his favourite food and Milo some bread (Milo is allergic to chicken). Then Milo stole a bocconcini off Manuela's (Mr NQN's brother's girlfriend) plate. "They must be starving!" said Manuela indignantly. We told her that dogs usually get 2 meals a day breakfast and dinner and that they were fine but if you asked the dogs, they'd probably disagree as they are always open to more food.
And later when all of the chicken was long gone Mr NQN looked around Teddy Ellliott was nowhere to be found. From where we were sitting slightly on top of a hill, we could see the whole area around us but he wasn't visible so Mr NQN went off looking for him. Teddy Elliott was all the way across the other side of the park at another picnic where a woman was feeding chicken to her kids!
So tell me Dear Reader, do you ever bring hot or warm food to a picnic? Do you like pasta bakes?