Ranch Chicken Pasta Bake with Crispy Bacon
- Shredded chicken breast 1 hfl
- Fusilli pasta 230 g
- Onion 1 sm
- Thyme 1 hfl
- For the dressing - Buttermilk 80 ml
- Greek yoghurt 2 tbs
- Garlic 2 clv
- Fresh chives 2 tbs
- Salt 1 tsp
- Oregano 1 tbs
- Onion powder 1 tbs
- Lemon juice 3 tbs
- Fresh thyme 1 tbs
- Toppings - Sweetcorn 3 tbs
- Bacon 5 tbs
- Grated cheddar cheese 50 g
- Vegetable oil 2 tbs
First, start making the meal by cooking the chicken breast. Add the chicken breast with 1 small peeled onion and a handful of fresh thyme into a small saucepan. Add enough water to cover the chicken breast. Cook until the chicken breast is fully cooked, this should take about 10-13 minutes. To double-check remove the chicken from the pan make an insert in the middle and if it's all white then the chicken is fully cooked.
Take another small bowl, add in the pasta with enough water so it fully covers it. Add 1 tsp of salt into the water for flavouring. Once fully cooked remove excess water and set it aside.
To make the ranch sauce combine the buttermilk, Greek yoghurt, lemon, chopped chives, oregano, salt, onion powder and fresh thyme.
Once the chicken is ready shred it by pulling it apart using 2 forks.
Preheat the oven to 200 Celsius degrees. Finely chop the bacon and add it to a saucepan with 1 tbs of vegetable oil. Fry them until very crispy.
Add the pasta into a large bowl along with the ranch sauce, shredded chicken and sweetcorn. Give it a good mix making sure that all the pasta is covered with the ranch sauce. Place the pasta mix into a baking tray. Top it with crispy bacon, cheese and more bacon. Bake it in the oven until the cheese turns golden brown. This should take up to 15-20 minutes.
Serve it with freshly chopped chives.