Chicken and ham bake in white sauce
A twice-cooked family favourite, mild enough for a difficult week
Doubles into a larger dish, with five minutes more baking so the centre heats through. Freeze it unbaked for up to three months and defrost it in the fridge before it goes in the oven.
This is the filling from a chicken and ham pie without the pastry, which turns out to lose nothing worth keeping. Chicken poaches gently in a mixture of stock and milk until it is only just cooked, and that same poaching liquid becomes the white sauce a few minutes later, so no flavour goes down the sink. Trimmed ham goes in for saltiness rather than bulk, and a scattering of breadcrumbs and cheese over the top turns golden and faintly crisp in the oven without ever needing pastry underneath. It freezes well before baking, so make the full quantity even if two of you are not eating tonight, and you have a second dinner sitting in the freezer for a day when cooking feels like too much.
Ingredients
Contains: Milk, Gluten, Celery
- 350 gchicken breast or thigh fillets, skin removed
- 200 mlclear chicken stock, strained clear, or a good stock cube
- 200 mlwhole milk
- 150 gham, trimmed of fat and gristle and diced
- 30 gunsalted butter
- 30 gplain white flour
- salt
- 40 gwhite breadcrumbs
- 50 gCheddar, grated
Method
Put the chicken in a wide pan with the stock and milk. Bring to a bare simmer, cover and poach for 12 to 15 minutes, until cooked through with no pink left.
Lift the chicken onto a board and leave to cool slightly, then shred or slice it into bite-sized pieces and stir the diced ham in with it. Strain the poaching liquid through a sieve into a jug and keep it.
Heat the oven to 200°C fan (220°C). Melt the butter in the same pan, stir in the flour and cook for a minute, stirring. Take off the heat and gradually whisk in the reserved poaching liquid, then return to a low heat and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes, whisking, until smooth and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Season with salt.
Stir the chicken and ham into the sauce and spoon it into a baking dish of about 1 litre.
Mix the breadcrumbs and Cheddar together and scatter evenly over the top. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden and bubbling at the edges.
Watch-points
- Trim all visible fat and gristle from the ham before dicing it.
- Start with a stock clear enough to see the bottom of the pan through, with nothing solid left in it.
- Use white breadcrumbs for the topping, not a wholegrain or seeded crumb.
Make it more nourishing
- Stir 30 g of extra grated Cheddar into the sauce itself, not only the topping.
- Use 250 ml of milk and only 150 ml of stock, for a richer sauce.
- Add a tablespoon of cream to the sauce once it is off the heat.
Swaps
- Instead of ham, use smoked bacon lardons, rendered gently until golden and tender rather than crisp
- a stronger, saltier flavour, though it needs frying first
- Instead of white breadcrumbs, use crushed plain crackers
- gives a lighter, crisper topping if that is what is in the cupboard