20111103 Chicken with Tomatoes and Courgettes

(SOURCE: Simple Daily Recipes - Chicken with Tomatoes and Zucchini)

This was a refreshing dish. Next time I may add some roughly chopped fresh basil leaves to the tomato sauce to give it more fragrant. There was plenty of sauce, so we simply used some fresh ciabatta bread to soak up all the sauce and clean our plate.

INGREDIENTS
For the tomato sauce -
800g can whole tomatoes
1/2 small yellow onion, diced
1/4 large red bell pepper, diced
2 tbsp olive oil
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried oregano
For the veggie and chicken-
1 large courgette, sliced lengthwise, 1/2 inch slices
remaining 3/4 bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch slices
grated cheese
olive oil
salt & freshly ground black pepper
2 chicken breasts, cut into 8 evenly sized strips
slices of bacon

METHOD
1. To make the tomato sauce. Heat olive oil in a medium pan over medium heat, and cook the onion and bell pepper until soften. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the tomatoes and dried spices, and bring to a boil. Cover with lid and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. While the sauce is simmering, prepare the vegetables and chicken. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. Heat the oven to 220 degree C.
3. Toss the courgette and bell pepper slices with a little olive oil, and then spread evenly in the dish. Season with salt and pepper, and cover them with a layer of grated cheese.
4. Lay the chicken strips across the courgette, then lay a piece of bacon over each chicken strip. Bake for 20 minutes.
5. The sauce should be done when the casserole is baking in the oven. Remove the sauce from the heat, and then puree the sauce with an immersion blender until smooth.
6. Pour sauce all over the casserole, covering everything. Then bake in the oven for another 20 minutes.