As much as I love creating new recipes from scratch, I also adore re-visiting classical dishes & playing around with the ingredients to give them a new vibe.

I was never a big fan of Negresco honestly, especially the taste of boiled chicken, which in my point of view, overpowered everything else. But I liked the concept of adding chicken to oven baked pasta so I decided to give traditional Negresco a new twist. In this recipe, the bechamel is made light without any butter & flavored with soy sauce & mustard giving it an amazing kick. Also, the chicken is pan seared in olive oil & tossed with A LOT of veggies which increases the nutritional value of the whole dish & gives a new dimension to the boring taste of plain chicken.

This dish can be prepared ahead of time & baked right before serving. Also, it freezes really well; just thaw overnight in the fridge & bake.

Ingredients:

• 1 x 400 gm pack spaghetti cooked (little less than al dente)

For the bechamel sauce:

• 1 liter milk half skimmed
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 100 gm edam cheese
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• salt & pepper

For the chicken:

• 250 gm chicken fillet thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup tomato finely diced
• 1/2 cup red pepper finely diced
• 1/2 cup yellow pepper finely diced
• 1 cup fresh mushroom slices
• 1/2 cup green or black olives slices
• 1/4 cup parsley leaves minced
• 1 tsp lemon zest (optional)
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• salt & pepper

For the upper layer:

• shredded mozzarella
• grated parmesan

Directions

Notes: