Chicken, broccoli and bacon crumble

This chicken and broccoli bake is a really comforting recipe based loosely on something my mum used to make.

Chicken, broccoli and bacon crumble. Credit: Mark Moriarty: Off Duty Chef

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  50 minutes

• difficulty

  Mid

Ingredients

• 500 ml chicken stock
• 50 g butter
• 50 g flour
• 1 tin condensed chicken soup
• 3 tsp dijon mustard
• 3 tsp curry powder
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Handful tarragon, chopped
• 500 g leftover mixed bread or buns: white, sourdough, brioche, brown bread
• 100 g butter, for breadcrumbs
• 100 g parmesan
• 400 g chicken breast, diced
• 200 g bacon lardons
• 400 g broccoli, diced

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2. Warm the chicken stock. In a separate pot, melt the 50g of butter, add the flour and cook over a high heat for 1 minute until the mix is bubbling. Pour in all the chicken stock and whisk constantly until the mix comes to the boil and thickens.
3. Remove from the heat and add the condensed soup, mustard, curry powder, lemon and tarragon, then season to taste.
4. Using a blender, blend the leftover bread until it is in large, rough breadcrumbs.
5. Heat 100 g butter and a little oil in a non-stick pan. Add the breadcrumbs, season and cook, stirring, until light golden brown.
6. Line a tray with paper towel and use a slotted spoon to lift the breadcrumbs out of the on. Grate in the 100 g of parmesan.
7. To assemble, add the diced chicken breast, bacon lardons and broccoli into a shallow casserole dish (or single dishes). (Everything goes in raw and cooks in the sauce.)
8. Spoon over the sauce, and then top with the fried breadcrumb mix.
9. Cook at 200°C for 40-45 minutes until hot and cooked through, then allow to rest for 15 minutes before serving. If the topping begins to colour too much, cover with tinfoil. Perfect with a baked potato and simple salad.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.