It's something simple and effective for you this week.

This is the last of my 'winter warmer' recipes, because if I'm not mistaken, I've been seeing some green shoots spring up opposite the restaurant.

It's a lovely, easy dish you can throw together without too much effort.

Smoked chicken is something you should be able to pick up relatively easily. We smoke our own here at 21212, but Morrisons and all the other big boys should stock it, as well as local delis. The herbs and smoky flavours in the chicken help make this a beautifully flavoursome treat.

In my eyes, it's slightly healthier than your classic mac'n'cheese which uses a block or two of cheddar. Yes, there's cream in this, but there's cottage cheese and egg yolk to provide creaminess, too.

 

Serves four

Ingredients

2 smoked chicken breasts

6/8 oz macaroni

2/3 vegetable Oxo cubes

1 large onion, finely diced

4/6 oz cottage cheese

1 egg yolk per guest

8 fl oz cream

 

Method

1 Sweat the finely diced onion until it is colourless

2 Take the chicken breasts, cook them then dice them

3 When the onions are soft, add the diced chicken

4 Boil the macaroni in plain water and drain when done. Add the cream and heat until warmed

5 Crush 2/3 Oxo cubes into into a tiny bit of hot water to form a paste. Add to a pan then add the cooked pasta

6 Add the cooked chicken and onion to the macaroni and cream mix

7 Take the cottage cheese and mix with one egg yolk per guest

8 Fold the cottage cheese and egg yolk mixture into the chicken, cheese and pasta

9 Add the mix to a flat-bottomed dish then bake in the oven at 180c for 20 mins, before finishing with a blast under the grill for 5 mins

Serve with a squeeze of lemon juice, some deep fried sage leaves, black pepper and garlic bread