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Chicken macaroni cheese with crispy pancetta

By: Troy Willis

Published: 11 May 21
Updated: 25 Mar 24

Use up leftover chicken in this delicious chicken macaroni cheese with crispy pancetta and rosemary. Serve with a crisp green salad for an easy family dinner.

Never let chicken go to waste with our leftover chicken recipes, including nourishing baked chicken, mushroom and thyme brown rice risotto.

Easy
May 2021

Test kitchen approved

Serves 4
Hands-on time 25 min

Use up leftover chicken in this delicious chicken macaroni cheese with crispy pancetta and rosemary. Serve with a crisp green salad for an easy family dinner.

Never let chicken go to waste with our leftover chicken recipes, including nourishing baked chicken, mushroom and thyme brown rice risotto.

Nutrition: per serving

Calories: 873kcals
Fat: 49.6g (27.3g saturated)
Protein: 45.5g
Carbohydrates: 59.2g (6.6g sugars)
Fibre: 3.7g
Salt: 2.9g

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Ingredients

12 slices pancetta
300g macaroni
175g leftover roast chicken, shredded or pack of cooked chicken breast
125g freshly grated mature cheddar
325ml milk
125g mascarpone
1 tbsp dijon mustard
100g fontina or gruyère, grated
1 tbsp chopped rosemary leaves
Crisp green salad to serve

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Method

Heat the oven to 180°C fan/gas 6. Put the pancetta on the prepared baking sheet. Cover with baking paper and top with a second baking tray. Bake for 8-10 minutes until crisp, then leave to cool. Turn the grill to medium high.
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling salted water for 6-8 minutes or until just al dente. Drain and set aside, keeping the pan to hand.
Put the chicken, cheddar, milk, mascarpone, mustard and some salt and pepper in the empty pan then, over a medium heat, stir to melt the cheese.

Remove the pan from the heat, stir the pasta into the sauce until combined, then crumble in half the pancetta.
Scrape the mixture into the baking dish, sprinkle over the fontina or gruyère and the rosemary, then grill for 2-3 minutes until the top is golden.
Crumble over the remaining pancetta and serve with a green salad, if you like.