Ingredients
- 500g boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped into small pieces
- 50g butter
- 1 large onion
- 1 cup celery stalks
- 1 pan of mixed vegetables (eg. kumara, carrots, potato, zucchini, sweet potato)
- 3 tbls flour
- 1 cup milk
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 cups bread crumbs (can be made from tearing up and blending a fresh loaf of mixed grain bread)
- fresh herbs
- 50 g melted butter
- olive oil
- salt
- ground black pepper
Directions
Cube vegetables, place in casserole dish (lasagne pan) and generously cover with olive oil, salt, pepper and assorted Italian herbs. Bake vegetables at 350F for 30-45mins until tender. While vegetables are baking, cook chicken breast pieces and set aside. In a separate pan/wok, sauté onion and celery in 50g butter until soft. Add flour a little bit at a time and mix it in thoroughly with the onions and celery. Cook for 2 minutes. Pour in milk and chicken stock. Stir until boiling and thickening. Add chicken in to mix a cook for 2 more mins. Pour mixture into casserole dish (that already has cooked vegetables).
Mix bread crumbs, salt, pepper, fresh herbs and 50g melted butter. Add butter (may need more than recommended depending on the bread) until all of the mixture has changed color to a golden yellow brown. Keep adding salt, pepper and herbs until you can smell the spices when you sniff the mixture. Most of the flavor of the casserole comes from the bread crumb topping. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture on top of the casserole and bake for 30 mins until golden brown and bubbling.
Recipe adapted from Colette’s mom.