Chicken, bacon Casserole

Notes:
This is an affordable and tasty meal that can feed a lot of people. Increasing the amount or mushrooms and reducing the amount of meat is a good tip for making the meal healthier yet still flavorful. I wanted something saucy and Alfredo like. I made it for our Christmas party yesterday and because of the feedback I thought I would post it. The original recipe is from Exclusively Foods but I never stick to a recipe ....so this is the Kanya version.

Ingredients:
300g Pasta (can use any, I used spaghetti coz that was all i had)
Salt, to taste
15ml (3 teaspoons) oil
1 1/2 onion, peeled and very finely chopped
60g shortcut bacon, finely chopped
350g chicken tenderloins, breast or thigh fillets, trimmed of any fat or tendons and cut into small bite-sized pieces (I used 2 large chicken breasts)
2 medium garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
250g roughly chopped button mushrooms
7 small Baby marrow
60g (1/4 cup) butter
38g (1/4 cup) plain flour
375ml (1 1/2 cups) chicken stock
335ml (1 1/3 cups) milk
40g (1/2 cup, lightly packed) grated tasty cheddar cheese
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Pinch nutmeg (optional)
80g (1/2 cup) chopped tomatoes
1tsp dried oregano

Topping
60g (1/2 cup, firmly packed) grated mozzarella cheese
60g (1/2 cup, firmly packed) grated tasty cheddar cheese

Directions:

1. Cook pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water according to package directions or until just tender. You can boil it in chicken stock aswell...adds flavor to the pasta. Drain pasta and set aside. Rinse saucepan and set aside until required for sauce.
2. Heat one teaspoon of the oil in a large heavy-based frying pan over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the onion and bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until lightly browned (about seven minutes). Add the baby marrow and fry for 2 minutes. Transfer onion and bacon mixture to a small bowl.
3. Return pan to medium-high heat. Add remaining two teaspoons of oil to the pan and add chicken. Fry, stirring occasionally, until chicken is lightly browned and cooked through (about six minutes).
4. Add garlic and mushroom to the pan, stir to combine, and then remove pan from the heat and set aside.
5. Preheat oven to 230 degrees Celsius (210 degrees Celsius fan-forced).
   
6. In the saucepan used to boil the pasta, melt the butter over medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the flour and stir constantly. Once the mixture bubbles, continue cooking and stirring for about 40 seconds.
7. Then add the chicken stock and milk. Increase heat to medium-high. Don't worry about any lumps in the mixture, they should disappear while stirring (if not, they can be strained out once you have finished cooking the sauce). Cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens. At this point, if you tilt the saucepan and use the spoon to push some of the sauce aside, you should be able to see the sauce bubbling on the base of the saucepan. Remove from heat and add 40g tasty cheese, pinch of nutmeg (optional) salt and pepper to the saucepan.
8. Stir to combine. Add bacon and onion mixture, chicken mixture, and pasta to the sauce.
   
9. Pour mixture into a 2.25 litre (9 cup) capacity ovenproof dish.
10. Place the chopped tomatoes on top of the dish. Sprinkle salt and oregano then remaining cheese.
11. Bake for about 15 - 20 minutes, until hot in the centre and golden brown.
12. Allow to stand for five minutes before serving. Casserole
    

Notes:

• You can use just plain cheddar cheese.
• The tomatoes add color to the dish
  
• I added baby marrow as a sneaky way of getting the guys to eat their vegetables, because I didn't have a actual veggie dish prepared.
  
• It is a meal that has all your necessary food groups. If anything I would add a salad to complement it. But hey if you ain't got time just go with the meal as it is.
  

Enjoy and let me know what you think!