Culinary Creations: Layered up Chicken with Roasted Vegetables

This recipe comes from my mother-in-law, and is one of my favorite things she makes. It's sort of like a pasta-free lasagna. Ingredients:

• 1 medium chicken, cooked (you can boil, roast, or buy pre-cooked - I like to use store bought rotisserie)
• 2 red onions
• 1 lb butternut squash
• 3 red peppers
• 1 large aubergine
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 tbsp good quality fresh pesto
• 1.5 oz each butter & flour
• 1 pint milk
• 1 tbsp English mustard
• 8oz Gruyere (or Cheddar) cheese

Preheat oven to 450F. Chop onions, squash, peppers & aubergine. Put vegetables into large roasting tin, drizzle with oil & roast for 30-45 minutes until tender. I usually do 30 minutes, as it will cook for another half hour, and I like the vegetables to retain more of their shape.

Stir in pesto. Put veg mixture into a 2 litre (3.5 pint) ovenproof dish & arrange chicken on top.

Make a cheese sauce by putting the butter, flour & milk into a pan, then bringing to boil slowly, whisking. Stir in mustard. Simmer for 1 minute, until thickened. Grate the cheese. Take sauce off heat & add all but a handful of the cheese.

Pour sauce over chicken, sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Turn oven down to 350F. Put dish on a baking sheet & cook for 30-45 minutes, until bubbling & golden.

Serve with baguette and green salad. (Serves 6)

Variations:

• When making this, I didn't have 3 peppers, so used 1 pepper, 1 zucchini, and 1 yellow squash. You really could use anything that you have on hand, or substitute what you like.
• For a vegetarian version, substitute chicken with mushrooms. Artichokes would also go nicely in this dish. I would recommend using Lemon Thyme if making this with artichokes.
• I only had 1/2 pint of milk, so had to use 1/4 pint of whipping cream and 1/4 pint of half & half to make the pint. My method of measuring a pint: one of James's authentic pub pint glasses. This combination created a much thicker sauce, which was very nice and I would recommend if you want something richer, but I think next time I will make sure that I have enough milk.