Great food in nine steps!

A description of the process.. read all the way through before having a go because not all the preparation is described chronologically!

We bought a new 2-litre ceramic oven dish for £3 from ASDA after my first pasta bake experiment because I wanted something bigger. This is my second attempt at a pasta bake (notwithstanding the potato/egg combo Ali baked for me years ago)

Step 1. Cook some pasta with salt, I mixed penne and macaroni about 4 big handfuls in total, drain it when cooked and spread most (70%) in the dish, leaving some for a top layer. I didn’t butter the dish or anything.

Step 2. The 3 chicken breasts and the 6 Linda McCartney Rosemary and Red Onion veggie sausages cooked for about 20+ mins in a gas 6 oven with a couple of turns. I then put the sausages on the pasta as a hidden treat (I wanted chorizo originally; chicken and chorizo in a creamy sauce with potatoes and onions is a killer! But the ladies are so picky with food, I ended up at the Co-op looking for ideas and found these non-offensive-to-anybody sausages (on a discount), and they worked brilliantly!!)

Step 3. I then added the pan-fried new/baby potatoes. A whole can, standard 400g or so (Co-op again), fried in butter with half a chopped onion and 2 large cloves of chopped garlic.

Step 4. I shaved about 1/4 of nice extra mature cheddar on top. 250g block, again a bargain from Co-op at £2 Mull of Kintyre

Step 5. The baked and cooked chicken breasts meanwhile were frying away with the other half of chopped onion and two 25g sachets of Creamy Peppercorn sauce from the guys at Schwartz. You’ll need to add some hot water and/or cream. I broke the breasts up into small chunks with the spatula as I stirred, and I also added some chilli for heat. Layer all this on top, but keep some sauce back to dribble on again on the top layer.

Step 6. Open a can of peas with a can-opener, taking care with the sharp edges of the tin that may cut you. Chuck as much as you like on top. I used