Chicken Pasta Bake

Before putting under grill/in oven

A quicky pasta meal which you can keep simple or fancy-up as much as you like. It will also keep going for a while in the oven while eaters assemble.

Basic Ingredients:
Few chicken breasts (I used 4)
Pasta (mugful per person)
Jar of any pasta sauce (I used Sainsbury's Tom & Herb sauce, 80p)

Optionals I used:
Frozen green beans or peas (to up veggie count)
Grated cheese
Tomato puree, dried mixed herbs, chili flakes
Chopped black olives
Diced green peppers

1. Cut chicken into chunks
2. Cook in large frying pan (if non-stick, no need for any oil) until sealed, adding a generous sprinkle of dried mixed herbs and chili flakes (5-10 mins)
3. Add the paste sauce from the jar, stir in couple tablespoons of tom puree, and leave to simmer, preferably covered, for further 10 mins at least. (The aim is for the chicken to be cooked at the end of step 3.)
4. Meanwhile cook the pasta (10 mins), with the frozen green beans or peas added. I used fusili to trap the lovely sauce!
5. When chicken and pasta/veg done, tip one into the other to combine, add black olives, and then pour into oven-proof dish.
6. Cover with mixture of grated cheese and diced peppers
7. If you want it immediately/soon, put under a medium grill for 5-ish mins.
If you have the oven on anyway, pop it in there. On 190-ish if you want it in 5-10 mins, or on lower if you want it some time after that.

After baking!