Hello Everyone! I’ve got one last Broccoli recipe to share with you guys before I power through with the theme for April. I’ll be back to my usual Wednesday posts as I have finally caught up with all the recipes I had planned for the past two months. It wasn’t easy playing catch up seeing as I had to balance both writing the recipes and work over the past few weeks when I posted more than a recipe or two for the week. Anyway, I’ll keep tonight’s post short and sweet as I don’t really have much to talk about in terms of how my week went. I spent pretty much a whole two hours in the kitchen this afternoon whipping up multiple ways for you to add some colour and enjoyment to your breakfast mornings, all of which will be revealed on Wednesday!

Tonight’s recipe is one that I have been wanting to try out for a while now – well not this specific recipe, but rather to work with jumbo pasta shells ever since I brought them back from my recent travels to Singapore. I was at the grocers looking for some products to bring back to Brunei, more specifically products that you don’t find in Brunei, and I came across these jumbo pasta shells (also known as ‘Conchiglie’). You’d think that you’d be able to find Conchiglie pasta in Brunei, and you can actually but just not the jumbo-sized ones. With this recipe, you can choose to make your own Alfredo sauce, or you can just buy the ready made ones at your local grocers; I guess it depends on whether you have time up your sleeve or not! The recipe may be a little bit time consuming like shredding the chicken, stuffing the shells, but trust me when I say that it all pays off in the end and it is actually a very easy and fool-proof recipe! It tastes so good straight out of the oven, and even better the day after if you have any leftovers. Be sure to check out the original recipe over on Life in the Lofthouse by Holly.

PREP TIME 30 MINS | COOKING TIME 25 MINS | SERVES 4-6

INGREDIENTS

For the pasta

• 500g jumbo Conchiglie pasta
• 500g chicken breast
• 1 head broccoli, cut into florets
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
• Ground sea salt and black pepper, to taste

For the Alfredo sauce

• 300ml thickened cream
• 1 cup full cream milk
• 3/4 cup freshly shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2/3 cup freshly shredded Parmesan
• 2-3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 small red onion, finely diced
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter
• Ground sea salt and black pepper, to taste
• Olive oil

METHOD

1. Add the chicken breast together with 2-3 dried bay leaves, a pinch of whole black peppercorns, and about a teaspoon of salt in a pot of water. Bring to a boil and leave to simmer for about 20 minutes. Once done, remove the chicken breast from the stock and set aside to cool down. *Do not discard the stock as it can be kept as a base for soups. I used mine on the same day and made a delicious pumpkin soup while I had these shells on the go too.
2. Once the chicken as cooled down, shred and place in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Set aside.
3. Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil and add the broccoli florets in. Poach for about a minute or two so that it still has a crispy bite to it. Immediately transfer to an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Roughly chop the broccoli florets and add to the bowl with the shredded chicken.
4. Preheat oven to 180C (350F or gas mark 4).
5. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil and cook the Conchiglie pasta to the package instructions, 18 minutes until al dente. Once done, drain and lay the shells out on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Let shells cool down completely.
6. While waiting for the shells to cool, heat the olive oil in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high. Melt the unsalted butter and then sauté the minced garlic until golden brown and fragrant, about 30 to 45 seconds. Add in the finely diced onions and cook until soft, about 1-2 minutes.
7. Add the thickened cream and milk to the saucepan and reduce the heat down to medium. Bring to a simmer. Once simmering, remove from heat and stir in the parmesan and mozzarella cheese. Season with ground sea salt and black pepper to taste. Set aside to cool down a bit.
8. Pour about a cup of the Alfredo sauce to the shredded chicken and chopped broccoli and stir together until well combined.
9. Add a spoonful of Alfredo sauce to the bottom of a greased baking pan, about 9″ x 13″ will do.
10. Fill the shells with a large spoonful of the chicken, broccoli, and Alfredo sauce mixture, and place each shell into the prepared pan.
11. Pour the remaining Alfredo sauce evenly over the shells and sprinkle the tops with more mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
12. Bake in the oven, uncovered, for about 25 minutes or until warm and bubbly.
13. Serve and enjoy!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx