Kids In The Kitchen

Offspring #2 and I had our second cooking session tonight. He'd leafed through the Ugly Binder and found a recipe that took his fancy. I'd made it before, though  not for some time, and was happy to add the necessary bits to the shopping list.

He did a great job tonight, especially as I wasn't super organised and we had a few things on the go all at the same time. Lesson learned there. Mum needs to give the recipe a wee bit more thought and do a bit of prep before we jump into the cooking. This week he felt a bit more comfortable wielding a sharp knife, loved the importance of switching on the gas hotplate and oven, and got a thrill out of testing the cooked-ed-ness of the pasta.

We again praised his efforts with lavish compliments - his sister even scored him 'infinity out of infinity" and ate all the pasta as well as all the broccoli from her serving. High praise from her. She left the chicken in a pile but luckily he knows of her extreme fussiness and the escalating problems we've been having with her at meals in recent times and didn't take offense.

Chicken and Broccoli Pasta Bakeadapted slightly from a recipe in Australian Table, Nov 2006

300g rigatoni, penne or macaroni

1 head broccoli, cut into florets

half a cooked chicken, cut into bite sized pieces

1 1/2 tablespoons cornflour

1 1/3 cups low-fat milk

3/4 cup grated low-fat tasty cheese

1 tablespoon packaged breadcrumbs

1.  Preheat oven to 180C.

2. Cook rigatoni in a saucepan of boiling salted water according to packet direction. Add broccoli for last 4 minutes of cooking time. Drain.

3.  Combine cornflour and ¼ cup of milk in a jug. Place remaining milk in a saucepan and bring to boil. Whisk in cornflour mixture. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring, until sauce thickens. Stir in 1/2 cup of cheese and season to taste.

4. Combine rigatoni, broccoli, chicken and sauce. Place in a 20cm square ovenproof dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese and the breadcrumbs over the top. Cook in oven for about 15 minutes until golden and bubbly. Serve with a garden salad.