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Pesto and chicken meatball bake recipe

Pesto and chicken meatball bake recipe

154 ratings

Created by The Tesco Real Food team

This new pasta bake recipe will soon become a family favourite. Combining a speedy homemade spinach pesto, tasty chicken meatballs and mozzarella topping, this cosy recipe is sure to be a winner. See method

  • Serves 6
  • 15 mins to prepare and 25 mins to cook
  • 538 calories / serving
  • Healthy

Ingredients

  • 400g pack chicken sausages
  • 500g conchiglie pasta
  • 2 sweet pointed ramiro peppers, deseeded and cut into 1.5cm strips
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 spring onions, trimmed and roughly chopped
  • 300g frozen spinach, defrosted, excess moisture squeezed out
  • 60g pecorino (or Italian-style hard cheese), finely grated
  • 150ml vegetable stock
  • 30g pack basil
  • 125g half-fat mozzarella, sliced
If you don't have any spring onions, try using white onions or leeks and adjust the amount accordingly

Each serving contains

  • Energy

    2270kj
    538kcal
    27%
  • Fat

    16g 23%
  • Saturates

    6g 29%
  • Sugars

    7g 8%
  • Salt

    1.6g 27%

of the reference intake
Carbohydrate 72.5g Protein 29.4g Fibre 2.6g

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to gas 9, 240°C, fan 220°C. Bring a large pan of water to the boil. Squeeze the sausage meat out of its casings and roll into cherry-sized balls. You should be able to make 4-5 balls from each sausage.
  2. Cook the pasta in the boiling water for 7 mins until al dente, stirring occasionally. Drain, reserving 100ml of the cooking water.
  3. Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and cook the meatballs for 4 mins. Add the peppers and cook for 5-6 mins until the meatballs are browned and the peppers are starting to char.
  4. To make the pesto, blitz the spring onions, spinach, pecorino, vegetable stock, most of the basil and the remaining oil in a food processor until smooth; season with pepper.
  5. Return the drained pasta to the saucepan. Stir in the pesto, reserved cooking water, meatballs and peppers. Tip into an ovenproof dish, top with the mozzarella and bake for 15 mins. Season with black pepper and serve scattered with the reserved basil leaves.

See more Pasta recipes

For top tips on protecting you and your family when preparing raw meat and poultry, visit Food Safety in the Home.

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